KUALA LUMPUR (July 9): Bursa Malaysia was slightly higher in early morning trade on bargain-hunting activities, which supported the benchmark index to stay above the 1,500-level.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.15 points to 1,513.86 from Thursday’s close of 1,508.71.
The market bellwether opened 0.35 of-a-point easier at 1,508.36.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 197 to 126, while 246 counters were unchanged, 1,634 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 240.14 million units valued at RM135.80 billion.
Malacca Securities expects the current cautious trading tone to persist due to lack of fresh positive catalysts.
“However, we believe bargain-hunting activities may emerge in the near term due to the significant selldown and oversold tone across the board. Commodity-wise, the oil price has seen a rebound following an improved inventory draw,” it said in a research note today.
The brokerage said investors might see mild buying interest in the energy sector after a heavy selldown yesterday with the oil price staying above US$74.
“Besides, bargain-hunting activities may emerge in sectors such as transportation and logistics and essential consumer stocks as well as technology stocks,” said Malacca Securities.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd advanced six sen to RM8.09, Tenaga Nasional Bhd climbed six sen to RM9.68, and Public Bank Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd added one sen each to RM4.06 and RM8, respectively, while IHH Healthcare Bhd was flat at RM5.60 and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd fell three sen to RM4.90.
Of the actives, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd increased 2.5 sen to 46.5 sen, My EG Services Bhd jumped six sen to RM1.68, Pelikan International Corp Bhd added two sen to 40.5 sen, T7 Global Bhd inched up half-a-sen 36.5 sen, while Macpie Bhd and AE Multi Holdings Bhd were flat at seven sen and five sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 34.27 points higher at 11,023.02, the FBMT 100 Index widened 32.69 points to 10,737, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 30.72 points to 12,044.21.
The FBM ACE expanded by 89.75 points to 7,153.27, and the FBM 70 went up 28.53 points to 14,275.93.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lifted 58.12 points to 14,934.98, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.11 of-a-point to 186.37, and the Plantation Index bagged 18.08 points to 6,294.92.-BERNAMA