KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 5): Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session on a high note due to bargain-hunting activities on Thursday (Jan 5), in line with the positive Wall Street performance overnight. 

At lunch break, the benchmark FBM KLCI had advanced 6.54 points to 1,476.09, from Wednesday's close at 1,469.55. 

The market bellwether opened 2.91 points higher at 1,472.46, and moved between 1,471.91 and 1,477.70 throughout the morning session. 

Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 402 versus 347, while 376 counters were unchanged, 1,084 untraded, and nine others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 1.87 billion units worth RM823.21 million.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the recent subdued trading tone could be temporary, as the local bourse should be poised for a recovery, after the government reiterated that it will only tighten the standard operating procedures for Covid-19 without discriminating against any nation.

“This should boost our economic activities, while the technology sector may be due for a rebound, tracking the overnight gains on Wall Street,” it said in a note.

The brokerage firm added that the tourism and aviation sectors may gain momentum, following the reopening of China’s borders.

“On the other hand, the energy sector may see some pullback due to a slump in crude oil prices,” it added.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) advanced six sen to RM8.77 a share, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd increased five sen to RM5.70, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) improved by eight sen to RM9.45 and IHH Healthcare Bhd gained one sen to RM6, while Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM4.28 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd shed 11 sen to RM8.34. 

As for the actives, Cypark Resources Bhd expanded by 4.5 sen to 58 sen and Capital A Bhd bagged 3.5 sen to 70.5 sen, while Green Packet Bhd at 6.5 sen and SMTrack Bhd at 4.5 sen were both flat, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd eased one sen to 17 sen, and Revenue Group Bhd trimmed 9.5 sen to 58 sen.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 42.27 points to 10,604.67, the FBMT 100 Index widened 43.69 points to 10,315.49, the FBM Emas Shariah Index garnered 42.72 points to 10,801.46, the FBM 70 Index was 46.31 points higher at 13,018.94, and the FBM ACE Index slid 6.13 points to 5,372.40.  

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved by 72.43 points to 16,392.97, the Plantation Index strengthened by 54.25 points to 6,931.79, the Industrial Products and Services Index gave up 0.56 of a point to 180.86, and the Energy Index shrank by 4.49 points to 776.74.