BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS MORNING SESSION SLIGHTLY LOWER

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia pared earlier losses to close the morning session slightly lower on profit-taking in selected heavyweights, although a mild technical bounce is expected today.

The FBM KLCI opened 10.49 points higher at 1,572.61, was 0.44 of-a-point easier at 1,561.68 at lunch break after moving between 1,559.33 and 1,576.57 throughout the morning session.

Losers outpaced gainers 504 to 383 while 453 counters were unchanged, 1,035 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.27 billion units, valued at RM1.51 billion.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said overall buying opportunities could emerge in the energy sector, driven by stronger crude oil prices after the US sanctions on Russian oil and Yinson Holdings Bhd securing a US$1 billion investment.

“Given the rebound in the US stock market driven by cooling inflationary pressure, coupled with an elevated dollar environment, we believe bargain-hunting activities may emerge on the local front.

“Within the technology sector, the electronics manufacturing services segment will benefit, despite US President Biden's recent announcements to curb artificial intelligence chips exports,” it said in a note today.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose two sen to RM10.16, Public Bank bagged one sen to RM4.10, CIMB improved 16 sen to RM8.01, Petronas Dagangan increased 68 sen to RM19.50, IHH was one sen higher at RM7.11, while Tenaga fell 14 sen to RM13.36.

Among the active stocks, newly listed CBH Engineering added 4.5 sen to 32.5 sen, and Velocity Capital was half-a-sen higher at 8.5 sen.

In contrast, Gamuda dropped 23 sen to RM4.22, MN Holdings shed nine sen to 95 sen, and Swift Energy eased one sen to 36 sen.

On the broader index, the FBM Emas Index edged up 0.16 points to 11,951.88, the FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 34.21 points to 11,794.83, and the FBMT 100 Index climbed 3.33 points to 11,645.78.

The FBM 70 Index improved by 29.61 points to 17,822.17, while the FBM ACE Index decreased by 19.68 points to 5,131.52.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index expanded by 6.59 points to 828.38, the Financial Services Index widened by 117.71 points to 18,784.63, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.35 of-a-point to 165.70, and the Plantation Index declined 15.45 points to 7,354.56.

-- BERNAMA