KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 ― Bursa Malaysia ended its morning trading session on a strong note, backed by bargain hunting in selected heavyweights.
At lunch break, the benchmark index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.31 points to 1,579.64 from yesterday's close of 1,578.33.
The index opened 0.34 of-a-point higher at 1,578.67, and moved between 1,573.40 and 1,586.02 throughout the session.
The overall market breadth was positive as gainers surpassed losers 551 to 375, while 442 counters were unchanged, 810 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 3.06 billion worth RM1.73 billion.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the United States’ copper price rose above the US$10,000 level, which could spark some buying interest in the metal-related counters.
“Besides, the plantation sector may be under the limelight amidst the firmer crude palm oil prices, which is currently above the RM4,200 level,” it said in a note today.
The local bourse’s uptrend was in tandem with regional markets, as Japan’s Nikkei Index rose 0.13 per cent to 29,368.15, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index grew 0.52 per cent to 28,787.11, Singapore's Straits Times Index firmed 0.68 per cent to 3,194.70, and South Korea’s Kospi bagged 0.64 per cent to 3,199.23.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained four sen to RM8.27, Public Bank was flat at RM4.09 and PetChem rose two sen to RM8.21.
Of the actives, Focus Dynamics and UCrest bagged one sen each to 10 sen and 36 sen, respectively, while Vizione fell one sen to 23.5 sen and TA Win deducted half-a-sen to 16 sen.
Among the gainers, Widetec improved 49 sen to RM2.15, Timberwell increased 26.5 sen to 96.5 sen, and BAT gained 22 sen to RM14.72.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 23.89 points to 11,620.06, the FBMT 100 Index was 16.80 points higher at 11,272.53, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 17.71 points to 13,011.55, the FBM ACE soared 94.75 points for 8,370.51 and the FBM 70 rose 51.49 points to 15,256.35.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 52.83 points to 14,821.46, the Plantation Index improved 36.37 points to 7,028.73, and the Industrial Products and Services Index increased 1.07 points to 199.75. ― Bernama
