KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — Bursa Malaysia turned slightly higher at mid-morning, supported by bargain hunting in selected heavyweight counters.
At 11 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 0.84 of a point to 1,540.38 from Monday’s close of 1,539.54. The benchmark index was 1.10 points better at 1,540.64 at the opening bell. Turnover stood at 1.58 billion shares worth RM602.85 million.
However, the market breadth remained negative, with 430 decliners and 272 gainers, while 394 counters were unchanged, 1,239 untraded, and 17 suspended.
Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd noted that despite a 153-point surge from a low of 1,386 points in recent sessions, the FBM KLCI's relief rally “still has legs, with room to challenge the 1,551–1,571 zone amid intermittent volatility.” “This view is supported by easing US-China trade rhetoric, a strengthening ringgit, and renewed foreign inflows. Notably, foreign shareholding edged up from a historical low of 19.3 per cent in March to 19.4 per cent in April, and its 67 per cent correlation with the KLCI implies sustained inflows could meaningfully lift the index,” it said in a note.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM10 and RM7, respectively. Public Bank slipped 1.0 sen to RM4.46, CIMB dropped 16 sen to RM6.92, while Tenaga Nasional added 1.0 sen to RM4.46.
In active trade, Permaju earned half a sen to 3.5 sen, Ekovest was flat at 33 sen, while Velesto and Leform eased half a sen each to 15 sen and 15 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 1.70 points lower at 11,439.48, the FBMT 100 Index depreciated 0.58 of a point to 11,214.68, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 31.44 points to 11,334.93.
The FBM 70 Index lost 27.59 points to 16,104.90 and the FBM ACE Index slid 15.62 points to 4,6096.44.
Across sectors, the Financial Services Index lost 116.02 points to 18,160.15 while the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 0.23 of a point to 151.56. The Energy Index trimmed 2.34 points to 680.37 and the Plantation Index added 16.43 points to 7,262.05.
— Bernama
