Bursa Malaysia Slightly Higher At Midday
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session marginally higher amid a cautious trading environment.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 1.24 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 1,600.82, from Tuesday’s close of 1,599.58.
The index, which opened 3.83 points higher at 1,603.41, moved between 1,596.69 and 1,604.13 throughout the session.
In the broader market, gainers trumped losers 481 to 373, while 484 counters were unchanged, 1,523 untraded, and 20 suspended.
Turnover amounted to 1.57 billion units worth RM1.04 billion.
Apex Securities Bhd expects the FBM KLCI to remain volatile, with a potential recovery supported by Wall Street’s mixed but broadly positive performance overnight.
It added that the pullback in oil prices and easing United States Treasury yields might provide some relief to market sentiment by moderating inflationary pressures and borrowing-cost concerns.
“However, ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and weakness in regional technology stocks could continue to dampen risk appetite.
“Investors will also watch Tesla and Meta’s upcoming earnings for further indications of artificial intelligence (AI) investment returns and corporate spending plans, which could influence global technology sentiment,” the stockbroking firm said in a research note today.
Domestically, Apex Securities said persistent foreign fund outflows remained a key headwind despite Malaysia’s resilient economic growth, while the FBM KLCI’s recent decline below 1,600 might encourage selective bargain hunting in fundamentally sound stocks with attractive valuations and dividend yields.
“Nevertheless, a sustained recovery will likely depend on stabilising foreign flows and improved market breadth,” it added.
Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank grew three sen to RM9.98, Press Metal advanced six sen to RM6.81, YTL Power increased two sen to RM5.32, TNB and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM13.06 and RM7.91, respectively, while Public Bank eased two sen to RM4.71.
In active trade, NWE gained three sen to 23 sen, JAKS rose two sen to 16 sen, Top Glove edged up half-a-sen to 91.5 sen, Zetrix AI was flat at 5.5 sen and Land & General inched down half-a-sen to 17.5 sen.
Of the top gainers, Vitrox strengthened 32 sen to RM10.62, UWC jumped 26 sen to RM7.22, Hong Leong Bank soared 24 sen to RM21.44 and MI Technology went up 21 sen to RM6.59.
As for the top decliners, Batu Kawan dipped 42 sen to RM18.88, Allianz Malaysia slipped 18 sen to RM19.22, Kluang Rubber fell 10 sen to RM6.45 and ITMAX trimmed nine sen to RM4.40.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index garnered 81.36 points to 17,132.56, the FBM Emas Index climbed 25.21 points to 11,932.81, and the FBM Top 100 Index improved 21.09 points to 11,732.52.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 37.06 points to 11,885.92, and the FBM ACE Index was higher by 63.29 points to 5,349.77.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.52 of-a-point to 174.90, the Plantation Index added 5.65 points to 8,590.79, the Financial Services Index accumulated 16.24 points to 18,575.21, while the Energy Index eased 2.78 points to 820.10.
-- BERNAMA