KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher, with the key index lifted by buying in selected heavyweights ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.
At the break, the benchmark FBM KLCI rose 12.98 points to 1,614.86 after moving between 1,603.01 and 1,615.72 throughout the session.
The index opened 4.67 points higher at 1,606.55 compared to yesterday’s close of 1,601.88.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 569 to 436, while 445 counters were unchanged, 655 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Volume stood at 3.08 billion units worth RM2.09 billion.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 11 sen to RM8.21, Public Bank increased 62 sen to RM21.52, PChem gained 4 sen to RM7.55, and Tenaga was flat at RM10.00.
Top Glove improved 10 sen to RM6.23.
Of the actives, HPP, which made its debut today, surged 22 sen to 58 sen, MTouche rose half-a-sen to 7 sen and Anzo lifted 2.5 sen to 10.5 sen.
In contrast, Vizione decreased 3.5 sen to 27 sen and DGB Asia retreated 4 sen to 13.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 88.48 points to 11,669.0, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 88.24 points to 11,398.5, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 68.52 points to 13,171.87.
The FBM 70 increased 102.53 points to 14,943.38 and the FBM ACE was 88.89 points better at 10,883.26.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index bagged 191.59 points to 14,953.79, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.81 of-a-point to 179.82 and the Plantation Index improved 4.9 points to 7,294.33. – Bernama, January 20, 2021
