KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session mixed today as buying interest in heavyweight counters interspersed with selling among the lower liners.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 6.16 points to 1,564.76 from yesterday’s close of 1,548.60.
The benchmark index -- which opened 5.55 points better at 1,554.15 -- moved between 1,547.47 and 1,556.13 throughout the session.
Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 435 to 374, while 410 counters were unchanged, 1,036 untraded, and 11 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 2.36 billion units worth RM1.01 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng said overall sentiments remained rather cautious, with investors on the edge due to the increasing market volatility and external uncertainties.
“For today, we reckon the index would trend in the 1,545-1,555 range.
“Meanwhile, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed higher at US$114 per barrel versus Brent crude’s closing of US$112 per barrel, as the debate on whether to ban Russian oil imports in Germany continues,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.94, Public Bank gained four sen to RM4.57, Petronas Chemicals improved six sen to RM10.08, IHH Healthcare firmed 17 sen to RM6.60 and CIMB was one sen higher at RM5.07.
Of the actives, Techna-X fell 2.5 sen to 5.5 sen, Serba Dinamik eased one sen to 15.5 sen, Yong Tai deducted 1.5 sen to 8.5 sen, while Sapura Energy and Eduspec were flat at 7.5 sen and two sen, respectively.
Among the top gainers, Nestle advanced RM2 to RM134.80, PPB widened 36 sen to RM16.90, Malaysia Airports bagged 29 sen to RM6.49, Hong Leong Bank strengthened 28 sen to RM21.02 and United Malacca improved 23 sen to RM5.55.
On the index board, FBM ACE dropped 50.88 points to 5,312.36, FBM Emas Index advanced 42.44 points to 11,102.85, FBMT 100 Index firmed 45.72 points to 10,770.80, FBM Emas Shariah Index added 33.91 points to 11,583.18, and FBM 70 gained 68.48 points to 13,207.33.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index decreased 17.99 points to 8,242.20 and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.56 of-a-point lower at 199.86, while the Financial Services Index bagged 59.62 points to 16,594.11. ― Bernama
