KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 26): Bursa Malaysia remained in positive territory at lunch break, mainly supported by the plantation sector amid rising commodity prices.
-Advertisement-
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI had risen 9.40 points to 1,579.20 from yesterday’s close at 1,569.80.
The market bellwether opened 0.92 of a point higher at 1,570.72 and fluctuated between 1,570.72 and 1,590.91 throughout the morning trading session.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 473 to 447, while 437 counters were unchanged, 895 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.34 billion shares worth RM1.42 billion.
An analyst said some profit taking had started following the uptrend in the local bourse, but gains in the plantation, industrial products and services as well as construction counters continued to support the market.
Conversely, healthcare, technology, energy, real estate investment trust (REIT) and property counters were slightly lower.
-Advertisement-
She said growing hopes that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) might not begin its stimulus tapering programme anytime soon could have been one of the contributing factors to the domestic market’s solid performance.
Meanwhile, market heavyweights Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) was 24 sen stronger at RM8.39, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd added 13 sen to RM5.37, Sime Darby Bhd rose 14 sen to RM2.40 and MISC Bhd advanced 18 sen to RM7.09.
Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) shed three sen to RM8.30 and Public Bank Bhd recovered two sen to RM4.12.
Among the actives, Ta Win Holdings Bhd advanced 2.5 sen to 5.5 sen, BCM Alliance Bhd decreased 2.5 sen to seven sen, Scope Industries Bhd dropped two sen to 34.5 sen and D’nonce Technology Bhd was half a sen lower at 60.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 53.46 points to 11,502.92, the FBMT 100 Index was 54.49 points better at 11,213.08, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 76.68 points to 12,628.58, the FBM 70 rose 24.78 points to 14,958.42 and the FBM ACE lost 10.42 points to 7,278.70.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index firmed 93.10 points to 6,756.11, the Financial Services Index recovered 12.34 points to 15,394.29, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 3.07 points to 197.66.-BERNAMA