Plantation stocks were major gainers today. United Plantations Bhd surged 40 sen to settle at RM32.40 on a volume of 796,400 shares/units. BLD Plantation Bhd recorded the biggest intraday gain of 56 sen to close at RM11.44 but on a moderate volume of six lots. (1 lot = 100 shares).
Ayer Holdings Bhd listed under the Main board’s property category added 29 sen to RM7.47 on 15 lots.
Semiconductor manufacturer Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd was the third-ranking gainer, rising 34 sen to settle at RM26.40, recording a volume of 231,700 shares/units.
Main market’s industrial listing Ge-Shen Corporation Bhd surged 25 sen, or 6.61%, to close at RM4.03 on a volume of 182,400 shares/units.
On the decliners’ side, foodstuff supplier Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd fell by RM1.42, closing at RM97.80 on a volume of 68,900 shares/units. Dairy supplier Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd gave up 26 sen to close at RM30.30 on a turnover of 10 lots.
The Hong Leong-affiliated stocks recorded some of the biggest intraday losses at closing. Financial services stock Hong Leong Bank Bhd was the second-placing decliner which shed 32 sen intraday to settle at RM20.12 on a turnover of 1,714,000 shares/units. Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd, also a financial services listing, trimmed 30 sen intraday, ending the day at RM17.94 on a turnover of 119,900 shares/units.
Consumer listing Hong Leong Industries Bhd fell 24 sen to close at RM14.24 on a turnover of 57,600 shares/units.
On the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers by 704 to 346, while 530 counters were unchanged, 891 untraded.
The daily exchange-wide turnover fell to 3.00 billion (2,992,971,600) shares/units valued at nearly RM2.44 billion (RM2,437,562,902), from 3.16 billion (3,160,517,600) shares/units worth RM2.45 billion (RM2,454,380,128).
Top gainers and top decliners for today:
