KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher but retreated thereafter, as profit-taking emerged in selected heavyweights following the recent gains, a dealer said.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.52 of-a-point to 1,491.71 from Friday’s close of 1,492.23.
The benchmark index opened 0.44 of-a-point firmer at 1,492.67.
On the broader market, gainers surpassed losers 183 to 141, while 233 counters were unchanged, 1,685 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 262.89 million units worth RM76.49 million.
“Though market undertone remains solid, we reckon the benchmark index could be due for a minor correction following a two-week run-up which saw the index expanding by around 80 points.
“Thus, we reckon the index to trend within the 1,490-1.500 range today, amidst some intermittent corrections,” said Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd’s vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng to Bernama today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM8.86 and Public Bank lost 2.0 sen to RM4.62, while Petronas added 3.0 sen to RM8.91, IHH Healthcare gained 2.0 sen to RM6.41 and CIMB increased 1.0 sen to RM5.22.
Of the actives, CSH Alliance was half-a-sen higher at 7.5 sen and Metronic rose 1.5 sen to 15.5 sen, while Serba Dinamik fell half-a-sen to 10 sen, and both Compugates and Ta Win were flat at 1.0 sen and 8.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index earned 5.64 points to 10,740.41 and the FBM ACE grew 6.34 points to 4,841.66, while the FBMT 100 Index declined 4.64 points to 10,348.23, the FBM Emas Index decreased 2.05 points to 10,599.85 and the FBM 70 slipped 10.18 points to 12,748.26.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index strengthened 27.93 points to 7,026.27, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.33 of-a-point to 184.70 and the Energy Index expanded 6.10 points to 677.34, while the Financial Services Index eased 25.34 points to 16,620.05. — Bernama
