BURSA MALAYSIA REMAINS MIXED AT MIDDAY

KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained mixed at midday amid cautious trading, despite an upbeat performance in regional markets following an overnight rally on Wall Street.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.43 points to 1,537.79 from Wednesday’s close of 1,540.22.

The exchange was closed on Thursday for the Labour Day holiday.

The benchmark index opened 2.80 points lower at 1,537.42 and moved between 1,532.23 and 1,539.62 during the morning trading session.

Market breadth was positive with 601 gainers outpacing 319 decliners, while 406 counters were unchanged, 1,018 untraded, and 20 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.63 billion shares worth RM1.13 billion.

The upbeat performance in regional markets, driven by signs of possible US-China trade talks, has lifted sentiment among market players.

Traders are now turning their attention to April’s nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate data, which are due later today.

At the time of writing, Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.15 per cent to 36,873.87, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged 1.53 per cent to 22,453.20, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.22 per cent to 2,562.04, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index climbed 0.27 per cent to 3,842.72.  

Among heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB Group declined one sen each to RM9.98 and RM7.11 respectively, Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional inched down four sen each to RM4.43 and RM13.82 respectively, and IHH Healthcare added 11 sen to RM7.03.

For active stocks, market debutant Reach Ten climbed 2.5 sen to 54.5 sen, Nationgate rose 11 sen to RM1.47, Tanco perked up 1.5 sen to 87.5 sen, Jaks Resources climbed one sen to 10.5 sen, while Avangaad was flat at 27.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 37.06 points to 11,444.85, the FBMT 100 Index garnered 28.89 points to 11,213.33, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 70.54 points to 11,344.83, the FBM 70 Index jumped 227.47 points to 16,172.85, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 0.54 of-a-point to 4,628.12.

Across sectors, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.12 of-a-point to 151.60, the Energy Index firmed 6.10 points to 694.24, while the Financial Services Index dropped 48.05 points to 18,186.55, and the Plantation Index shed 22.28 points to 7,235.14.

-- BERNAMA