Kuala Lumpur stock exchange’s benchmark KLCI advanced 7.88 points to 1,610.87 points. , from Tuesday’s close of 1,602.99 points.
During the half-day session, the key index moved between 1,602.79 points and 1,612.12 points, which represented a gap of 9.33 points.
The surge of the market came at a time when the trading volume was relatively low owing to holiday sentiment. Market observers reported that out of the 30 big-cap blue chip stocks, 23 counters traded higher, four declined while three unchanged.
This morning, the benchmark index opened marginally higher by 0.59 of a point. As at 9:05am, the key index rose 0.70 of a point to 1,603.69 points.
The index continued to edge up and added 3.99 points to 1,606.98 points as at 9:16am. Towards late morning, the index already gained 6.14 points as at 10:42am.
The upward momentum largely persisted until midday, pushing the key index to rise nearly eight points to surpass the 1610 mark.
Sector-wise, all the sectoral indices were in the green zone at midday. The Industrial Products & Services Index recorded the biggest advance of 1.29% to 172.58 points, followed by the Technology Index which added 1.03% to 64.76 points, and the Consumer Products & Services which surged 0.87% to 543.96 points.
Other indices by sector increased within the range of 0.05% (REIT) to 0.71% (Health Care).
United Plantations Bhd and Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd (MPI) rebounded from the decline on the holiday eve. At midday, United Plantations rose 84 sen to RM30.84 on a volume of 186,100 shares/units and was the top midday decliner.
Meanwhile, MPI at one point surged 50 sen to the high of RM25.98 before retreating at midday, gaining 18 sen to RM25.66 on a volume of 41,700 shares/units.
The ACE-listed Zen Tech International Bhd was the most actively traded counter at midday, recording a volume of 87,865,200 shares/units, climbing half a sen to RM0.01.
Beer supplier Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd was the top decliner at midday which lost 14 sen to RM20.64 on a moderate turnover of 19 lots. (1 lot=100 shares)
The newly listed (Dec 17) car and household fragrance producer Vanzo Holdings Bhd rose 1.5 sen to RM0.195 on a volume of 42,613,900 shares/units, reflecting an increase of 30% over its listing price at RM0.15.
Exchange-wide, gainers led decliners by 541 to 290, while 478 counters were unchanged, 1,113 untraded and 17 suspended.
The half-day trading volume totalled at around 1.34 billion (1,338,570,000) shares/units valued at nearly RM886 million (RM885,561,145).
