BURSA Malaysia ended the week marginally higher as bargain hunting re-emerged in most sectors as sentiment improved slightly driven by the lifting of enhanced movement control order (EMCO) in nine areas in Kuala Lumpur effective today.
An analyst said, however, investors remained cautious as Selangor and most parts of the Klang Valley are still under Phase One of the movement control under the National Recovery Plan (NRP).
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 0.10% or 1.66 points to 1,522.48 from Thursday’s close of 1,520.82.
The index opened 3.08 points higher at 1,523.90 and moved between 1,511.78 and 1,525.37 throughout the trading session.
Gainers surpassed losers at 518 to 406, while 459 counters were unchanged, 856 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 4.48 billion units valued at RM2.93 bil from Thursday’s 5.08 billion units worth RM3.49 bil.
Meanwhile Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said Digi led gainers with 2.7% or 11 sen to RM4.25, while the construction index advanced the most among other sectors on the index board after ending 1.0% higher.
“In terms of economic data, Malaysia’s Consumer Price Index would be released next Friday and it will determine if inflationary pressures remain high which is an important component considered by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in determining the monetary policy,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) was flat at RM8.05, Public Bank Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd added one sen to RM4.06 and RM8.05 respectively, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) dropped two sen to RM9.70, while IHH Healthcare Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd lost one sen each to RM5.69 and RM4.53 respectively.
As for most active counters, Dagang Nexchange Bhd (DNEX) rose 3.5 sen to 7.5 sen, Pasukhas Group Bhd gave up seven sen to 12.5 sen and Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd reduced half-a-sen to 45 sen. – July 16, 2021
