KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 20): Bursa Malaysia turned higher at midday on better buying support, led by technology and financed-linked counters, analysts said.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark index was 1.2 points firmer at 1,607.17, compared to Monday’s close of 1,605.97.
The bellwether index opened 5.86 points better at 1,611.83, and moved between 1,601.31 and 1,613.35 throughout the morning session.
However, market breadth was slightly negative with losers outnumbering gainers 527 to 488, while 438 counters were unchanged, 830 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.73 billion units worth RM1.73 billion.
According to analysts, the local equity market’s performance was also in line with those of its regional peers, which took their cues from the extended gains on Wall Street following the encouraging corporate earnings results.
In a note, Public Investment Bank Bhd said it expects the FBM KLCI to trend sideways, around the 1,600-psychological level.
“Support levels for the index are at 1,600, 1,580 and 1,551, while the resistance levels are at 1,622, 1,652 and 1,664,” it said.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said persistent buying from foreign funds is expected to continue, noting that the country’s regional peers are also enjoying foreign funds inflow.
“We reckon the benchmark index to trend around the 1,600-1,610 range [on Wednesday] amidst some intermittent profit-taking activities,” it said.
Of the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd was flat at RM8.31, Public Bank Bhd added five sen to RM4.28, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd rose four sen to RM8.79, Tenaga Nasional Bhd increased one sen to RM9.83 and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd was seven sen higher at RM5.37, while IHH Healthcare Bhd declined six sen to RM6.60
Among the actives, Daya Materials Bhd gained half-a-sen to two sen, while M3 Technologies (Asia) Bhd and Macpie Bhd were flat at six sen and 13 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index recovered 11.68 points to 11,826.06 and the FBMT 100 Index improved 8.95 points to 11,462.63.
The FBM 70 was 10.39 points higher at 15,490.68 and the FBM ACE was up 25.66 points to 7,267.37, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 6.76 points to 12,886.89.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 86.09 points to 15,931.38, while the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 0.58 of-a-point to 212.83 and the Plantation Index shed 0.4 points to 7,037.83.-BERNAMA