BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS MORNING SESSION IN POSITIVE TERRITORY

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session in positive territory, taking cues from the optimism in US markets overnight.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.49 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 1,614.96,  from yesterday's close of 1,610.47.  The benchmark index initially opened 1.90 points firmer at 1,612.37 and fluctuated between 1,609.70 and 1,618.75 during the session.

However, the market breadth was negative, with decliners outnumbering advancers 499 to 323, while 473 counters remained unchanged, 1,185 untraded, and 123 suspended.

Turnover reached 1.49 billion units, valued at RM986.7 million.  

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that US markets closed higher overnight ahead of the looming US election and key corporate earnings and economic data which would set the stage for the next interest rate cut decision.

European markets also closed higher, while Asian markets ended mixed yesterday amid the political uncertainty in Japan.

“With US markets turning positive after a stretch of selling, coupled with a strengthening US dollar, we believe the buying interest may extend to the local market, particularly in the technology and glove sectors,” it said in a note.

The FBM KLCI and small-cap stocks began the week on a softer note as selling pressure persisted across the broader market.

The brokerage said oil and gas counters may remain muted due to softer Brent oil prices, but plantation and gold-related stocks could trend positively as crude palm oil and gold remain in an uptrend.

At the midday break, the heavyweight gainers were led by YTL Corporation and YTL Power, where both advanced nine sen to RM2.07 and RM3.15, respectively. Maybank was six sen better at RM10.46 while telco counters Maxis was eight sen higher at RM3.70 and CelcomDigi added four sen to RM3.51.

ACE Market debutante, OB Holdings was the most active counter, adding one sen to 25 sen while Talam Transform lost half-a-sen to two sen, Capital A advanced 1.5 sen to RM1.0 and MyEG erased 1.5 sen to 86.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 15.51 points to 12,174.35, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 19.13 points to 11,886.60 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 8.40 points to 12,143.58. In contrast, the FBM 70 Index dropped 23.28 points to 17,622.43 and the FBM ACE Index slipped 16.87 points to 5,023.52.

By sector, the Financial Services Index went up 4.13 points to 19,129.55, the Energy Index fell 2.18 points to 835.39 and the Plantation Index ticked up 0.58 of-a-point to 7,310.87. The Industrial Products and Services Index shaved 0.73 of a point to 174.28.

-- BERNAMA