KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued its uptrend at mid-afternoon today as steady crude oil prices supported buying interest in counters such as Tenaga Nasional as well as rubber glove makers Hartalega and Top Glove.
At 3.05 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KCLI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.14 points, or 0.22%, to 1,427.11 from 1,423.97 at Tuesday’s close.
The key index opened 5.29 points firmer at 1,429.26.
Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 466 to 382, while 393 counters were unchanged, 750 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 4.74 billion worth RM2.32 bil.
As at 3.37 pm, benchmark Brent Crude oil price was 0.12% higher at US$34.69 per barrel.
Tenaga led the list of gainers among the 30 KLCI-linked counters after rising 20 sen to RM12.36, followed by Hartalega which increased by 19 sen to RM9.20, while Sime Darby Plantation was eight sen better at RM4.90, Top Glove advanced 16 sen to RM10.64 and Maybank accumulated three sen to RM7.48.
The list of most active counters was dominated by oil and gas-linked counters, as Velesto added 1.5 sen to 18 sen, Icon Offshore ticked up half-a-sen to 12.5 sen, Sapura Energy and KNM were unchanged at 10 sen and 22 sen, respectively, while Bumi Armada eased half-a- sen to 24 sen.
Top gainer Pharmaniaga perked 37 sen to RM2.25 while top loser Nestle shrank RM1.30 to RM138.70.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 36.63 points to 10,08.09, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 62.16 points higher at 11,470.84 and the FBMT 100 Index added 31.93 points to 9,949.05.
The FBM ACE increased 58.08 points to 5,421.48 and the FBM 70 leapt 81.34 points to 12,562.34.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.63 point to 124.44, the Plantation Index strengthened 33.67 points to 6,567.67 and the Financial Services Index expanded 2.81 points to 12,417.73. – May 20, 2020, Bernama
