KUALA LUMPUR (July 27): Bursa Malaysia remained higher at the end of the morning trading session today, in tandem with most regional peers on bargain hunting in heavyweights.
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At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.97 points better at 1,515.5 from Monday’s close of 1,512.53.
The index opened 3.2 points higher at 1,515.73 and moved between 1,513.2 and 1,517.39 throughout the session.
On the broader market, losers led gainers at 493 versus 348, while 444 counters were unchanged, 941 untraded, and 30 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.29 billion units worth RM1.34 billion.
A dealer said the local bourse opened higher and stayed in positive territory throughout the morning session, tracking the modest gains recorded by regional peers as the Chinese and Hong Kong markets stabilised from their steep losses in the previous day.
Asian equities took cue from the performance on the Wall Street and European equities which swung between modest gains and losses on Monday ahead of the US central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting this week, he added.
Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.5% to 3,154.66, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.71% to 3,247.79, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.56% to 27,989.32, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.03% to 25,922.83.
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He added the local bourse has also been trading on consolidation mode as investors remained cautious with the five-day special Parliamentary sitting this week.
Of the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd added one sen to RM8.01, Public Bank Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd gained two sen each to RM4.02 and RM9.72 respectively, IHH Healthcare Bhd bagged three sen to RM5.80, but Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd eased two sen at RM7.97.
Among the actives, BCM Alliance Bhd’s ordinary rights with warrants were unchanged at half-a-sen, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd and PUC Bhd edged up half-a-sen each to 42.5 sen and 18 sen respectively, Central Global Bhd added three sen to RM1.75, while BCM Alliance was flat at 15.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 17.8 points to 11,112.11, the FBM 70 perked up 22.61 points to 14,630.55, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 2.47 points better at 12,219.33, and the FBMT 100 Index went up 20.02 points to 10,813.29.
The FBM ACE slipped 10.81 points to 7,312.69.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 40.65 points to 14,793.89, the Plantation Index increased 5.14 points to 6,194.42, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.11 of-a-point to 189.12.- BERNAMA