.JPG "An investor monitors the stock prices in the gallery of the RHB Investment Bank Bhd headquarters in Kuala Lumpur March 17, 2020. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Nearly two-thirds of the index-linked heavyweights were in positive territory at mid-afternoon, thanks to the stellar corporate earnings recorded in the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (Q1 FY2021) released today.
At 3.06pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed further by 8.57 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 1,586.39 from 1,577.82 at Tuesday’s close.
The index opened 1.54 points higher at 1,579.36.
However, market breadth was slightly negative with losers leading gainers 490 to 487, while 450 counters were unchanged, 764 untraded and 39 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 5.50 billion units worth RM2.74 billion.
Of the 30 FBM KLCI counters, gainers were led by Petronas Chemicals (PChem) which jumped 15 sen to RM8.15.
PChem released its financial results today and saw its Q1 FY2021 net profit jump to RM1.46 billion from RM506.0 million in Q1 FY2020, largely due to improvements in both crude oil and petrochemicals prices, boosted by global demand recovery.
Similarly, Maybank which today announced a higher net profit of RM2.39 billion in Q1 FY2021 from RM2.05 billion previously, also saw its share price increase four sen to RM8.37.
Other advancers among the heavyweights included Axiata which bagged 11 sen to RM3.61, Hap Seng Consolidated leapt 38 sen to RM8.28, and Public Bank garnered four sen to RM4.21.
The most actively traded counters included Privasia which rose 7.5 sen to 33.5 sen. Dagang NeXchange added eight sen to 81.5 sen, while its warrant went up 7.5 sen to 31.5 sen, Progressive Impact perked up 3.5 sen to 22.5 sen, and DGB Asia edged up half-a-sen to 6.5 sen.
Top gainers list was led by consumer counters, namely F&N which surged RM1.02 to RM26.80, Nestle soared RM1.00 to RM136.30, Carlsberg put on 76 sen to RM23.36, and Petronas Daganagn rose 68 sen to RM19.50.
BLD Plantation was 41 sen firmer at RM9.42.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved 44.63 points to 11,536.93 and the FBMT 100 Index strengthened 47.17 points to 11,229.11.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index garnered 37.31 points to 12,824.57, the FBM 70 climbed 9.60 points to 14,843.63, and the FBM ACE was 61.43 points better at 7,911.16.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded 93.10 points to 14,987.09, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.09 points to 193.15, but the Plantation Index slipped 3.05 points to 6,937.17. — Bernama
