Bursa Malaysia ends slightly higher
KUALA LUMPUR: Trading in Bursa Malaysia, which was cautious and within a tight range, ended slightly higher today amid mixed performances on regional bourses, dealers said.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 2.56 points to end at its intraday high of 1,776.31 after moving between 1,773.24 and 1,776.31 throughout the day.
It opened 1.06 points higher from Wednesday's close of 1,773.75.
Market breadth was positive with gainers led losers by 496 to 332 with 400 counters unchanged, 619 untraded and 34 others were suspended.
Volume rose to 1.80 billion units worth RM1.88 billion from 1.72 billion units worth RM1.80 billion yesterday.
A dealer said Asian shares closed mixed today.
He said cautious sentiment persisted as investors digested the US Federal Reserves' (Fed) minutes released yesterday and new developments surrounding President Donald Trump's administration.
"The US dollar rally took a breather, while US Treasury prices and gold rose after Trump announced the disbanding of two high-profile business advisory councils yesterday, and cast doubts on his ability to push his pro-business agenda.
"The Fed's minutes on Wednesday revealed that policymakers were divided on future interest rate increases and concerned over weak inflation," he said.
On the local front, sentiment was still cautious as investors awaited the release of Malaysia's second quarter gross domestic product figures tomorrow for clues on the market's direction, which was expected to be positive to the market, he said.
Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.14% to 19,702.63, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.24% to 27,344.22 and Singapore Straits Times index eased 0.44% to 3,264.64.
South Korea's Kospi gained 0.57% to 2,361.67.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM9.70, Tenaga gained two sen to RM14.24 and Petronas Chemicals bagged 12 sen to RM7.28. Public Bank fell two sen to RM20.56. Sime Darby and CIMB Group were flat at RM9.30 and RM6.77 respectively.
Of the actives, Lotte Chemical warrant added 14.5 sen to 34.5 sen, Straits Inter Logistic warrant gained three sen to 13 sen, IFCA MSC improved 1.5 sen to 41 sen and UMW Oil and Gas was 2.5 sen better at 31 sen.
JAG fell one sen to 14.5 sen.
Meanwhile, Scomi Group Bhd and Scomi Engineering Bhd stocks were suspended today on the companies' requests pending an announcement.
The FBM Emas Index was up 28.08 points at 12,626.14, FBM Emas Syariah Index gained 34.91 points to 12,766.23 and the FBMT 100 Index improved 23.01 points to 12,281.91.
The FBM 70 increased 48.11 points to 14,979.02. The FBM Ace fell 13.03 points to 6,576.31.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index bagged 27.01 points to 16,789.79, Industrial Index shed 7.49 points to 3,228.64 and the Plantation Index fell 25.75 points at 7,778.95.
The Main Market volume increased to 1.02 billion shares worth RM1.70 billion from 959.33 million shares worth RM1.58 billion on Wednesday.
Volume on the ACE Market fell to 448.89 million units valued at
RM119.13 million from yesterday's 504.47 million units valued at RM194.08 million.
Warrants rose to 314.78 million shares worth RM49.79 million from 223.62 million shares worth RM23.98 million yesterday.
Consumer products accounted for 72.68 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (291.31 million), construction (81.12 million), trade and services (344.06 million), technology (48.89 million), infrastructure (4.34 million), SPAC (30,400), finance (43.65 million), hotels (2.04 million), properties (111.30 million), plantations (10.74 million), mining (17,100), REITs (8.74 million) and closed/fund (139,900).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM171.77 per gramme, up RM2.01 from RM169.76 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama