KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 ― The benchmark index on Bursa Malaysia remained in positive territory at mid-morning, driven by continued buying interest in selected heavyweights, and in line with the uptrend in the regional markets, dealers said.
At 11am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 9.68 points to 1,513.69 from 1,504.01 at yesterday's close.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 354 to 266, while 369 counters were unchanged, 1,276 untraded and six others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.05 billion units valued at RM595.39 million.
ActiveTrades trader Anderson Alves said that Asian stocks were firmer on Tuesday, but concerns over the global economy lingered on.
“Recent data reports have reinforced concerns that a global economic slowdown is ongoing. Multiple leading macro indicators as well as assets like commodities point to continuing weakness in growth into end-2022.
“Investors showed a preference for tech/growth sectors due to the yield curve sensitivity, in which the United States Treasury curve bull-steepened after a big tumble in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (NY Fed) manufacturing data,” he said in a note today.
Back home, heavyweights Maybank and CIMB rose 1.0 sen each to RM8.92 and RM5.44, respectively, and IHH Healthcare went up 3.0 sen to RM6.52, while Public Bank slipped 3.0 sen to RM4.63 and Petronas Chemicals declined 1.0 sen to RM8.77.
Of the actives, Top Glove improved 4.0 sen to 83.5 sen and Green Packet earned half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, while Cnergenz shed 2.0 sen to 74.5 sen and Borneo Oil was flat at 2.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 58.09 points better at 10,718.63, the FBMT 100 Index gained 58.75 points to 10,464.52, the FBM ACE secured 24.81 points to 4,984.27 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 97.98 points to 10,867.52, while the FBM 70 advanced 38.71 points to 12,746.11.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index declined 7.27 points to 16,770.56, the Plantation Index climbed 70.02 points to 7,231.58, the Industrial Products and Services Index earned 0.60 of-a-point to 183.70 and the Energy Index slipped 3.66 points to 653.76. ― Bernama
