KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia was higher in early trade on Wednesday, extending its gains for the seventh consecutive day, supported by the further resumption of economic activities.
At 9.19 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 3.21 points to 1,587.12 compared with 1,583.91 at Tuesday’s close.
The bellwether index opened 1.04 points lower at 1,582.87.
Market breadth was positive as gainers outnumbered decliners 257 to 222, while 346 counters were unchanged, 1,454 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 507.90 million units worth RM250.27 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said despite the negative overnight performance on Wall Street, the local bourse may remain bullish over the near term and move closer to the 1,600 psychological level.
The Dow contracted 0.3% after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed the United States’ (US) economic growth projection to 6.0% for 2021 from an earlier projection of 7.0%.
Back home, while the energy and plantation sectors staged a mild pullback, they should remain in the limelight over the mid-term amidst the elevated commodities environment.
“Besides, recovery theme sectors such as banking and construction as well as property may continue their uptrend,” it said in a note.
Heavyweights Maybank rose nine sen to RM8.32, Public Bank was two sen higher at RM4.18, MISC gained eight sen to RM6.98, MR D.I.Y increased five sen to RM3.71 and IHH advanced three sen to RM6.73.
Meanwhile, Maxis, Telekom Malaysia and Digi were in the red after yesterday's rally, losing three sen, six sen and two sen to RM4.65, RM5.90 and RM4.33, respectively.
Hartalega slipped six sen to RM5.91 and Top Glove was two sen lower at RM2.81.
As for the active counters, Sarawak Consolidated inched up one sen to 51.5 sen, Serba Dinamik lost half-a-sen to 41 sen and NWP Holdings expanded 1.5 sen to 30.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was higher by 12.49 points at 11,665.14 and the FBMT 100 Index edged up 15.65 points to 11,308.76.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 9.20 points to 12,739.11, the FBM 70 was 7.26 points easier at 15,240.25, and the FBM ACE declined 1.70 points to 7,188.48.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index bagged 83.81 points to 15,626.61, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.03 of-a-point to 210.98, and the Plantation Index fell 8.16 points to 6,995.95. – Bernama, October 13, 2021
