THE rally in rubber glove makers — Hartalega and Top Glove — as well as healthcare manufacturers continued to lift the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KCLI (FBM KLCI) to 1,393.56, an increase of 13.63 points at 11.05am.
The index opened 8.50 points higher at 1,383.22.
Market breadth was negative, with losers leading gainers by 495 to 319, while 292 counters were unchanged, 759 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Total turnover stood at 4.28 billion shares worth RM2 bil.
The market tone remained mixed ahead of the release of the first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data by Bank Negara Malaysia at noon.
Among the heavyweights, Hartalega jumped RM1.12 to RM8.56, Top Glove increased RM1 to RM8.99 and IOI added 22 sen to RM4.07.
Tenaga, however, continued its downtrend, losing 26 sen to RM12.08 and Axiata dropped three sen to RM3.86.
As for the actives, medical and healthcare equipment manufacturer, K-One added 11 sen to 36 sen, HLT Global went up 27 sen to 65 sen, and Key Alliance was flat at 10 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index improved 85.19 points to 9,813.22, the FBMT 100 Index gained 89.35 points to 9,661.42, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 135.92 points to 11,018.78, the FBM ACE climbed 179.52 points to 5,380.38 and the FBM 70 strengthened 89.74 points to 11,980.08.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index bagged 25.01 points to 12,238.51, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.48 of a point to 121.03, while the Plantation Index went up 57.69 points to 6,274.27. — May 13, 2020, Bernama
