KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia inched up at opening today, spurred by buying in finance and healthcare-related counters, in line with gains in some of the regional bourses.
At 9am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 1.22 points higher at 1,610.95 against Friday’s close of 1,609.73.
At the opening bell, the key index opened 0.93 of-a-point better at 1,610.66.
On the broader market, gainers overtook losers 102 to 54, while 182 counters unchanged, 1,655 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 73.96 million shares worth RM24.12 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd in its equity note today said, with stocks continuing to be held up by selected last-minute hauls, the underlying tone is still one of indifference as most market players are still uncertain of the near term direction after the key index managed to recover from its four-year low just a month ago.
“The recent gains have also sent many stocks teetering on the overbought territory.
“Although there is lingering indifference, there could still be mild upsides on the FBM KLCI as banks may still react to the lowering of the SRR last Friday that is set to bolster the bank’s lending capabilities, albeit the fresh uncertainties over the status of the US-China trade negotiations could cast some cautiousness over the market’s near term direction and prompt some intraday profit-taking activities before the end-of-day haul possibly tipping stocks higher,” it said.
The research house said the lower liners and broader market counters also recovered from their intraday losses last Friday and may mirror the performance of the key heavyweights over the near term.
“We still see gains punctuated by bouts of profit taking as many of the stocks remain overbought.”
Of heavyweights performance, Maybank added one sen to RM8.84, Public Bank rose four sen to RM19.98, Petronas Chemical rose eight sen to RM7.73 while Genting Bhd was two sen better at RM6.23.
As for the top gainers, Pharmaniaga emerged as one of the top gainers, increasing 34 sen to RM2.60, despite news that the government would end its concession to distribute drugs and medical supplies for the Health Ministry.
Sungei Bagan Rubber, which engaged in the plantation, cultivation, and sale of fresh oil palm fruit bunches, gained 11 sen to RM2.95 and a personal care products company Eng Kah uptick eight sen to 98 sen.
Of the actives, Green Packet warrants added one sen to 35 sen, Eduspec was flat at three sen and Sapura Energy slipped half-a-sen to 29 sen.
The FBM Emas Index erased 11.31 points to 11,384.41, the FBMT 100 Index weakened 11.67 points to 11,193.93 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 6.54 points to 11,887.24.
The FBM Ace rose 14.75 points to 4,995.16 but the FBM 70 was 6.13 points weaker at 14,096.43.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index declined 11.67 points to 15,759.88, Plantation Index gave up 23.52 points to 6,851.63 while the Industrial Products & Services Index was 0.26 of-a-point marginally up to 155.21. - Bernama
