Muristek
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.39 points to 1,606.59 from 1,603.20 at yesterday's close. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
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KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher today, boosted by continuous buying interest in plantation stocks, despite volatile regional markets, a dealer said.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.39 points to 1,606.59 from 1,603.20 at yesterday's close.
The index opened 6.72 points higher at 1,609.92, and moved between 1,604.60 and 1,614.82 throughout the session.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 436 to 414, while 411 counters were unchanged, 977 untraded and 11 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.29 billion units worth RM1.72 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng said the market undertone seems strong as the local bourse remained above the 1,600 level.
“We reckon the index to chart higher as buying by foreign funds is expected to resume.
“For today, we believe the index would hover within the 1,600-1,610 range, although we anticipate some mild correction soon,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Sime Darby Plantation advanced 19 sen to RM4.83, KL Kepong improved RM1.18 to RM26.78, IHH Healthcare put on six sen to RM6.64, TM gained 11 sen to RM5.59 and Sime Darby added five sen to RM2.31.
As for the actives, Vortex Consolidated rose one sen to eight sen, Dagang NeXchange lost two sen to RM1.25, while SMTrack gained half-a-sen to 23 sen.
On the index board, FBM ACE improved 58.14 points to 6,334.20, FBM 70 put on 10.04 points to 13,767.41, FBM Emas Index bagged 25.44 points to 11,467.38, FBMT 100 Index advanced 20.18 points to 11,148.38, and FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 38.09 points to 12,208.19.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 22.63 points to 16,474.75, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.06 points lower at 211.74, and the Plantation Index climbed 242.84 points to 7,914.88. ― Bernama