KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher, in line with the uptrend in regional markets, as demand in selected technology, energy, healthcare and construction counters continued to support the market, a dealer said.
At lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 8.02 points to 1,449.26 from yesterday's close of 1,441.24.
The benchmark index, which opened 2.06 points higher at 1,443.30, moved between 1,443.26 and 1,450.73 throughout the session.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 508 to 296, while 350 counters were unchanged, 1,121 untraded, and 19 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.47 billion units worth RM807.9 million.
According to Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, technology stocks are set to rebound with the Wall Street futures turning green at this juncture.
“Meanwhile, we opine that real estate investment trusts (REITs) and solid consumer stocks may be seen as defensive in nature and garner trading interest at least for the near term,” it said in a note today.
The brokerage also noted that stocks on the local bourse were oversold and could be due for bargain-hunting opportunities.
“However, overall market sentiment should remain challenging in the near term on the prospect of a few more rounds of rate hikes; thus the rebound might be short-lived,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, IHH Healthcare added nine sen to RM6.42, Hartalega gained 10 sen to RM2.92, Inari Amertron stood unchanged at RM2.60, Dialog Group rose two sen to RM2.05, and Maybank decreased three sen to RM8.62.
Of the actives, Dagang NeXchange firmed up two sen to 78.5 sen, MNC Wireless added half-a-sen to two sen, and Top Glove rose 7.5 sen to RM1.06, while both Yong Tai and SFP Tech were flat at nine sen and 67 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index expanded 67.89 points to 10,330.13, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 90.37 points to 10,495.41, the FBM 70 rose 115.19 points to 12,479.06, the FBM ACE improved 19.33 points to 4,756.89, and the FBMT 100 Index added 64.52 points to 10,071.52.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index widened 22.68 points to 16,067.67, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.91 points better at 185.39, and the Plantation Index weakened by 16.81 points to 7,097.69. ― Bernama
