Bursa Malaysia Edges Higher At Mid-day Amid Firmer Crude Oil Prices
KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed marginally higher at mid-day in subdued market sentiment, with buying interspersed with selling in selected heavyweight stocks, tracking gains in regional markets amid surging crude oil prices.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 0.14 point to 1,711.51 from Wednesday's close of 1,711.37.
The benchmark index opened 3.01 points higher at 1,714.38 before fluctuating between 1,709.05 and 1,716.10 during the morning trading session.
Market breadth was negative, with decliners outpacing gainers 510 to 319, while 574 counters were unchanged, 1,349 were untraded and 23 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.74 billion units worth RM948.91 million.
Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.34 per cent to 25,227.06, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.67 per cent to 66,561.28, South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index increased 3.87 per cent to 7,060.94, but Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.63 per cent to 5,508.99.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank was six sen lower at RM10.88, while Public Bank inched up one sen to RM5.16, Tenaga Nasional improved 12 sen to RM14.40, CIMB Group advanced four sen to RM7.70, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM8.33.
Among active stocks, Velesto Energy gained one sen to 27 sen, AIMAX was flat at 1.5 sen, but VS Industry slid half a sen to 25.5 sen, while Zetrix AI and Tanco reduced 1.5 sen each to 70 sen and 29 sen, respectively.
Among other top gainers, Panasonic Manufacturing rose 26 sen to RM5.92, Ornapaper accumulated 22.5 sen to 87.5 sen, Sunway Construction added 17 sen to RM7.75, Fraser & Neave and USM Integration were both 16 sen better at RM28.90 and RM8.06, respectively.
Decliners were led by Malaysian Pacific, which fell RM1.44 to RM46.32, followed by United Plantations, down 84 sen to RM33.20, Nestle slipped 24 sen to RM91.28, Malayan Cement lost 18 sen to RM6.15, and Petronas Gas shed 16 sen to RM17.52.
Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index slid 5.88 points to 12,650.08, the FBM Top 100 Index gave up 6.93 points to 12,473.03, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 13.17 points to 12,484.52.
The FBM ACE Index eased 13.23 points to 4,947.79, and the FBM Mid 70 Index retreated 43.94 points to 17,912.87.
By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.04 of a point to 188.32, the Energy Index put on 1.45 points to 775.86, but the Financial Services Index trimmed 5.50 points to 20,207.11, and the Plantation Index shed 73.70 points to 9,247.54.
-- BERNAMA