KUALA LUMPUR (July 7): Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session mixed, with the benchmark index rising slightly by 0.16% amid peaking buying interest in plantation-related stocks.  

At 12.30pm on Thursday (July 7), the FBM KLCI had gained 2.22 points to 1,423.07 from Wednesday's close at 1,420.85.  

The benchmark index, which opened 0.19 of a point higher at 1,421.0, moved between 1,420.27 and 1,425.85 throughout the morning session.

Overall market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 421 to 257, while 380 counters were unchanged, 1,166 untraded and seven others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.1 billion units worth RM638.56 million.

Malacca Securities said the local bourse is set for bargain-hunting activities following mild improvements on Wall Street, but the upside could be capped amid falling commodity prices.

“Given the set-up, investors may want to avoid commodity-related sectors, especially industrial products, energy and plantation, and turn to banking, consumer and food-related counters.

“Additionally, the technology sector may see buying interest after the Nasdaq indicated a rebound,” it said in a note on Thursday. 

Among the heavyweights, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd surged 24 sen to RM4.07, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) advanced 62 sen to RM20.64, PPB Group Bhd strengthened 46 sen to RM15.74 and Top Glove Corp Bhd gained six sen to RM1. 

Public Bank Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd were flat at RM4.39 and RM5.10 respectively, while Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) shed two sen to RM8.60, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd slipped 27 sen to RM8.38, IHH Healthcare Bhd declined four sen to RM6.34 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) eased one sen to RM7.93.

Of the actives, TA Win Holdings Bhd inched up half a sen to 8.5 sen, Widad Group Bhd was flat at 36.5 sen, Main Market debutant Seng Fong Holdings Bhd shaved off 5.5 sen to 69.5 sen and Jade Marvel Group Bhd depreciated 8.5 sen to 83 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went up 3.36 points to 10,107.91, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 11.16 points to 10,159.87, FBM 70 gave up 28.26 points to 12,145.01, FBM ACE went down 17.39 points to 4,609.33 and the FBMT 100 Index added 6.45 points to 9,868.89.   

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index decreased 18.80 points to 16,046.96, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 2.91 points lower at 172.57, and the Plantation Index surged 120.67 points to 6,592.46.