Bursa Malaysia Posts Tepid Early Gains; Volumes Expected To Remain Thin

By Harizah Hanim Mohamed

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia posted modest gains in early Friday trade, with turnover expected to remain thin as investors stayed cautious ahead of next week’s Chinese New Year break.

At 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 0.01 of-a-point to 1,750.86, after opening 2.96 points lower at 1,747.89, compared with Thursday’s close of 1,750.85.

Losers outnumbered gainers on the broader market, 251 to 105, while 258 counters were unchanged. A total of 2,123 counters remained untraded, and 11 were suspended.

Market turnover stood at 169.47 million shares worth RM99.14 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the barometer index had recorded some losses on Thursday amid profit-taking ahead of the shortened trading week.

“Nonetheless, we reckon if the index dips further, it presents an excellent opportunity to bargain hunt,” he told Bernama.

Thong noted that daily volume remains low, with retail participation still subdued, reflected in year-to-date net outflows exceeding RM2 billion.

“For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,745-1,755 range,” he added.

Among index heavyweights, Maybank lost two sen to RM12.12, Public Bank was flat at RM5.13, CIMB eased one sen to RM8.52, Tenaga Nasional fell four sen to RM14.00, while IHH rose one sen to RM8.74.

On the most active list, Hock Soon slipped five sen to 55 sen, MAG added 0.5 sen to 17 sen, VS Industry declined 1.5 sen to 39 sen, and Pharmaniaga eased one sen to 31 sen.

Among other decliners, Nestle fell 50 sen to RM110.10, Malaysian Pacific Industries dropped 46 sen to RM30.54, CI Holdings declined 12 sen to RM2.62, and United Plantations eased 10 sen to RM29.52.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index fell 8.78 points to 12,622.11, the FBM Emas Index lost 14.78 points to 12,790.66, the FBM Mid 70 Index declined 50.97 points to 17,539.65, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 16.81 points to 12,244.82, and the FBM ACE Index fell 19.91 points to 4,755.22.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 12.14 points to 21,750.72, the Plantation Index edged down 0.47 of-a-point to 8,354.56, the Energy Index gained 0.92 of-a-point to 751.87, while the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.26 of-a-point to 176.47.

-- BERNAMA