Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session on Thursday slightly higher following renewed buying interest in selected heavyweights and reversing some earlier losses.
At 12.30 this afternoon, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 0.87 points to 1,539 from 1,538.13 points at the close.
The benchmark index opened 2.53 points weaker at 1,535.6 and now moves between 1,533.8 to 1,539 during the session.
However, market sentiment was negative with losers outnumbering gainers by 429 to 408. Meanwhile, 503 counters were unchanged, 974 were untraded and 26 others were suspended.
The total turnover is 2.75 billion units worth RM1.25 billion.
According to Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd Head Researcher, Kenny Yee said the local benchmark index is expected to hover in the range of 1,540 to 1,550 today (Thursday).
He further said that the FBM KLCI had a shift as it closed below 1,540 on Wednesday after an adjustment for dividends among some heavyweights. They believe the stock rally will return and expect the index to continue its march to the 1,600 level.
In addition, plantation counters continued to attract positive interest after crude oil prices (MSM) hit a 52-week high of RM4,200 a tonne due to lower inventories.
Meanwhile, heavyweights such as Maybank Bhd fell five sen to RM9.57, Public Bank Bhd dropped one sen to RM4.21, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd remained unchanged at RM6.70 and RM11.54 respectively. . Meanwhile, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd rose three sen to RM6.84.
For active counters, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd and TWL Holdings Bhd were unchanged at 1.5 sen and 3.5 sen respectively, Eversendai Corp Bhd rose half a sen to 39.5 sen while Fitter Diversified Bhd dropped half a sen to five sen.
