Malaysian Stock Market Ends Marginally Higher

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (Bernama) – The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia), which saw choppy trading Friday, ended marginally higher as gains in selected heavyweights supported the market bellwether. The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 0.48 of-a-point to close at 1,775.87 from Thursday's close of 1,775.39. The index moved between 1,773.15 and 1,778.64 throughout the day, after opening 1.54 points higher at 1,776.93 earlier. On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 514 to 425, with 369 counters unchanged, 453 untraded and 19 others suspended. Volume fell to 2.70 billion units valued at RM2.17 billion, from 3.55 billion units valued at RM3.47 billion on Thursday. Affin Hwang Investment Bank Vice-President and Head of Retail Research, Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan, said the higher benchmark index was helped by the recovery in crude oil prices and crude palm oil (CPO) prices. "This is positive for Bursa Malaysia as investors sentiment has improved, despite the weaker performance on Wall Street overnight," he told Bernama. Meanwhile, Bank Negara Malaysia announced today that the overnight policy rate remained unchanged at 3.0 per cent. It said at the current level of the OPR, the stance of monetary policy is accommodative and supportive of economic activity. Among heavyweights, Maybank gained seven sen to RM9.38, TNB fell two sen to RM13.90, Public Bank rose two sen to RM19.98 while Sime Darby was flat at RM9.33. As for actives, Netx shed one sen at 8.5 sen, Glotec lost half-a-sen to six sen while AT recovered half-a-sen to five sen. The FBM Emas Index fell 0.79 -of-a- point to 12,718.10, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 1.11 points to 12,348.00 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 16.06 points lower at 13,057.93. The FBM 70 shed 17.96 points to 15,319.91 but the FBM Ace jumped 99.30 points to 6,438.26. Sector-wise, the Finance Index climbed 36.25 points to 16,411.15, the Plantation Index improved 17.68 points to 8,112.79 but the Industrial Index was 9.87 points lower at 3,259.21. -- BERNAMA