KLCI ekes out slight gains at midday

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended Tuesday's morning session on a positive note and in line with most regional peers, with the barometer index marginally higher, while taking cue from the flattish overnight Wall Street, dealers said.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.70 of a point higher at 1,773.09, after moving between 1,771.60 and 1,773.71. It opened 0.50 of a point higher at 1,772.87 from Tuesday's close of 1,772.39.   

Market breadth was positive, as gainers led losers 381 to 281, with 341 counters unchanged, 860 untraded and 46 others suspended. Turnover stood at 899.24 million shares worth RM700.28 million.   

A dealer said Asian markets were mostly higher as investors digested earnings releases from regional corporates and a resurgent dollar, but underlying sentiment was cautious, following upbeat US retail sales data which triggered expectations of another Federal Reserve rate hike by year-end.

On the local front, heavyweight stocks stayed in range bound trade in the absence of stronger local catalysts, and muted tone of US markets.

Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.02 per cent to 19,757.13, Hong Kong's Hang Seng improved 0.37 per cent to 27,276.52, South Korea's Kospi improved 0.50 per cent to 2,345.96, while the Singapore Straits Times index fell 0.91 per cent to 3,264.28 Among heavyweights,  Tenaga  and Public Bank gained two sen each to RM14.22 and RM20.60 respectively, Sime Darby lost eight sen for RM9.30, Petronas Chemicals eased one sen to RM7.14, while Maybank and CIMB Group were flat at RM9.69 and RM6.78.

Of the actives, MLabs Systems gained half-a sen to 21 sen, Kronologi Asia added 5.5 sen to 97.5 sen, MLabs Systems warrant improved one sen to 7 sen, REV Asia rose 9.5 sen to 46.5 sen, while MTouche eased 3.5 sen to 40 sen.

The FBM Emas Index was up 19.87 points to 12,589.19, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 19.39 points to 12,722.13 and the FBMT 100 Index improved 16.49 points to 12,252.53.

The FBM 70 jumped 64.08 points to 14,916.30 as the FBM Ace surged 102.15 points to 6,521.43.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index increased 19.10 points to 16,730.15 and the Plantation Index was 3.09 points better at 7,805.61, but the Industrial Index slipped 3.25 points to 3,238.40. - Bernama