KL shares on firm note in early session

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia started off the day on a firm note today as gains in key heavyweights lifted the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI).

At 9.05am, the index stood at 1,672.84, up 0.79 of-a-point, after opening 0.75 of-a-point better at 1,672.8, compared with yesterday's close of 1,672.05.

Gainers outpaced losers 95 to 59, with 158 counters unchanged, 1,413 untraded and 27 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 112.9 million shares worth RM31.39 million.

In a note, Kenanga Research said the FBM KLCI's shorter-term trend was positive, and it was poised to remain positively biased despite the recent days' sideways pause.

"Immediate resistance levels to look out for are 1,680 and 1,692, while support levels are located at 1,665 and 1,657," it added.

Among the top gainers were TNB, up six sen to RM13.86, while Public Bank and Hong Leong Financial rose four sen each to RM20.06 and RM15, respectively.

Other heavyweights, Maybank increased one sen to RM8.29, CIMB gained one sen to RM4.81, while Sime Darby and Petronas Chemicals were both flat at RM8.45 and RM7.17.

Top losers, on the other hand were BAT, down 28 sen to RM46, PPB which declined 12 sen to RM16.26 and Genting losing five sen to RM8.16.

Of the actives, IFCA MSC was one sen higher at 36 sen, AT Systematisation was unchanged at 3.5 sen and Hovid added 1.5 sen to 31.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index was 2.85 points better at 11,687.83, the FBMT100 Index inched up 1.85 points to 11,393.31 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index edged up 3.61 points to 12,237.07.

The FBM 70 declined 11.24 points to 13,243.18 but the FBM Ace increased 29.13 points to 5,035.91.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index added 6.05 to 7,906.05, the Finance Index gained 17.22 points to 14,713.88, while the Industrial Index lost 3.46 points to 3,176.96.
The physical price of gold as at 9.30am stood at RM165.21 per gramme, up 37 sen from RM164.84 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama