BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS MORNING SESSION HIGHER

KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher today on persistent buying in selected heavyweights, in line with positive momentum on the regional market, a dealer said.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 0.42 per cent, or 6.49 points, to 1,543.29 from last Tuesday’s close of 1,536.80. 

The benchmark index opened 0.24 of a point lower at 1,536.56, the lowest level during the morning session and later rose to an intraday high of 1,543.29.

Market breadth was positive, with 454 gainers outpacing 355 decliners, while 424 counters were unchanged, 1,102 untraded, and nine suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.61 billion shares worth RM1.01 billion.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 0.42 per cent, or 6.49 points, to 1,543.29 from last Tuesday’s close of 1,536.80. 

The benchmark index opened 0.24 of a point lower at 1,536.56, the lowest level during the morning session and moved to the highest of 1,543.29 at some point throughout the trading session.

Market breadth was positive as 454 gainers trumped 355 decliners, while 424 counters were unchanged, 1,102 untraded, and nine suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.61 billion shares worth RM1.01 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street trended lower ahead of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) policy meeting and the post-meeting press statement by Jerome Powell later today.

“Meanwhile, crude oil prices improved, albeit slightly, on expectations that crude oil output may peak sooner rather than later. As such, the Brent crude climbed to above US$62 per barrel,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank improved one sen to RM9.97, Tenaga Nasional gained 14 sen to RM14.20, Public Bank was flat at RM4.47, while CIMB fell two sen to RM6.88 and IHH Healthcare slid one sen to RM6.99.

In active trade, Sapura Energy earned half-a-sen to 4.5 sen, Pos Malaysia advanced 2.5 sen to 29.5 sen, DNex added 1.5 sen to 90 sen, while WTEC shed one sen to 24.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 59.09 points higher at 11,472.56, the FBMT 100 Index rose 57.12 points to 11,244.77, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 83.97 points to 11,395.18.

The FBM 70 Index jumped 121.41 points to 16,183.64, but the FBM ACE Index eased 2.26 points to 4,636.51.

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index went up 8.85 points to 18,138.04, the Energy Index rose 7.69 points to 686.31, and the Industrial Products and Services Index increased 1.23 points to 151.71, but the Plantation Index decreased 10.31 points to 7,274.65.

-- BERNAMA