KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher on continuous buying support, led by plantation and energy counters.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged up 1.35 points to 1,454.90 from Friday’s closing of 1,453.55.
The key index opened 5.22 points better at 1,458.77.
The market breadth was positive with advancers outpacing decliners 390 to 339, while 383 counters were unchanged, 1,107 untraded, and 11 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.53 billion units worth RM847.84 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said he expects the key index to move between the 1,450 and 1,460 range today.
“Investors are also eyeing Bank Negara Malaysia’s monetary policy committee meeting on Wednesday and Thursday to see if the overnight policy rate will be adjusted,” he told Bernama.
Kenanga Research said investors also have their focus on two high-profile events, one of them being the Palm & Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference (from Monday to Wednesday) which will provide the latest insights on the supply-demand dynamics of the palm oil industry and crude palm oil price expectations.
“Investors are also keen to find out news on Invest Malaysia 2023 on Wednesday, to know if there will be any pertinent policy measures to be announced when the Prime Minister delivers his keynote address as fund managers meet to hear the latest stock market developments,” it said in a note today.
Heavyweight counters Petronas Chemicals went up four sen to RM7.30 while Press Metal Aluminium and IHH Healthcare earned one sen each to RM5.14 and RM5.90, respectively.
CIMB was flat at RM5.59 while Maybank dropped two sen to RM8.69.
Among the active stocks, MyEG and Velesto Energy gained two sen each to 75.5 sen and 23.5 sen, respectively.
Minda Global added 2.5 sen to 11 sen, Widad was flat at 41.5 sen and Vinvest Capital trimmed half-a-sen to 22.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 20.08 points to 10,608.51, the FBM 70 Index garnered 49.00 points to 13,495.61 and the FBM ACE Index grew 26.28 points to 5,453.01.
The FBMT 100 Index advanced 16.07 points to 10,285.83 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 40.41 points to 10,285.83.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index jumped 67.35 points to 6,898.35, the Energy Index earned 16.23 points to 887.96 and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.53 of a point to 178.18.
However, the Financial Services Index declined 25.90 points to 16,137.83.
— Bernama
