BURSA MALAYSIA TURNS POSITIVE AT MIDDAY ON IMPROVED SENTIMENT

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia recouped earlier losses to close higher at midday on improved sentiment with buying seen in selected heavyweights led by the financial services and utility counters.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 3.12 points to 1,569.84 from Friday’s close of 1,566.72. 

The benchmark index opened 4.42 points higher at 1,571.14 and fluctuated between 1,563.48 and 1,575.11 throughout the session.

Market breadth was also positive, with gainers outpacing losers 540 to 335. A total of 453 counters were unchanged, 1,049 remained untraded, and 19 were suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.89 billion units valued at RM1.29 billion. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expects bargain hunting to persist as the recent selling may have been overdone.

“Thus, we forecast the index to hover within the 1,570-1,580 range this week,” he told Bernama.

Besides, the benchmark FBM KLCI also ended on a higher note at the midday break, in line with regional indices which saw positive trends following a positive conversation between US President-elect Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping ahead of the inauguration.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained 14 sen to RM10.28, CIMB added one sen to RM7.99, Tenaga Nasional rose 14 sen to RM13.74, while Public Bank fell 15 sen to RM4.29 and IHH Healthcare trimmed four sen to RM7.11.

Among the active stocks, Ingenieur and Velocity Capital Partner were unchanged at five sen and eight sen respectively, Velesto rose 1.5 sen to 20 sen, My EG Services added two sen to 96 sen, and Gamuda expanded nine sen to RM4.33.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index gained 43.58 points to 12,052.41, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 83.26 points to 11,948.92, and the FBMT 100 Index rose 38.84 points to 11,734.81.

The FBM 70 Index soared 117.63 points to 18,063.52, while the FBM ACE Index eased 0.80 of-a-point to 5,175.46.

By sector, the Energy Index climbed 16.15 points to 856.70, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.33 points to 167.98, and the Plantation Index firmed 21.33 points to 7,357.77, while the Financial Services Index fell 33.84 points to 18,775.03.

-- BERNAMA