Bursa Malaysia ended the Wednesday morning session with bullish momentum, with the FBM KLCI advanced 14.38 points to 1,423.74, from Tuesday’s closing of 1,409.36.
The upward momentum of KLCI was moving in tandem with the positive cue from Wall Street overnight. The DJIA jumped 2.80% whilst Nasdaq rallied 3.34% last night.
Market breadth was positive with gainers trounced decliners 487 to 264, while 368 counters were unchanged.
Trading volume stood at 2.12 billion units with total value of RM819.1 million.
Top gainers of the morning sessions were PMB Technology, Nestle Malaysia, Batu Kawan, Panasonic Manufacturing, PETRONAS Chemicals, KL-Kepong.
Whilst top decliners were Imaspro Corp, PTERONAS DAGANGAN.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said buying activities are expected to continue on the local bourse on Wednesday as sentiments remain positive.
“As such, we expect the index to hover in the 1,405-1,420 range, with buying interests in banking, telecommunications and technology-related stocks,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, oil benchmark Brent crude surged to almost US$92 per barrel on reports that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may cut production by an even bigger margin than initially forecast.
At the noon break, Bursa heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) had gained three sen to RM8.71, Public Bank Bhd added two sen to RM4.29, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was 21 sen higher at RM8.60, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd earned six sen to RM5.29, and IHH Healthcare Bhd edged up one sen to RM5.86.
Of the actives, MMAG Holdings Bhd rose by half a sen to four sen, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd climbed 9.5 sen to 96.5 sen, Top Glove Corp Bhd pushed up one sen to 63 sen, and Cypark Resources Bhd went up 1.5 sen to 47.5 sen, while Hiap Huat Holdings Bhd fell by one sen to 15 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index widened 94.76 points to 10,145.67, the FBM 70 advanced 98.67 points to 12,279.38, the FBMT 100 Index was 95.09 points stronger at 9,897.92, the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 115.67 points to 10,185.21, and the FBM ACE climbed 16.65 points to 4,725.65.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index was 16.12 points firmer at 700.64, the Financial Services Index expanded by 94.15 points to 16,185.58, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 4.04 points to 173.90, and the Plantation Index soared 136.37 points to 6,574.43.
