Thursday, January 14, 2021

Bursa Malaysia turns mixed at mid-day, healthcare losses cap advance

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 0.27 of-a-point to 1,636.96 from 1,636.69 at yesterday’s close. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 0.27 of-a-point to 1,636.96 from 1,636.69 at yesterday’s close. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 ― Bursa Malaysia's barometer index trimmed gains after widening losses mainly in the healthcare and property sectors capped its uptrend.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 0.27 of-a-point to 1,636.96 from 1,636.69 at yesterday’s close.

The broader market, however, turned negative as losers surpassed gainers 560 to 527, while 391 counters were unchanged, 621 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Total volume stood at 3.73 billion units worth RM2.55 billion.

An analyst said regional markets were positive amid modest gains on Wall Street, with Bursa Malaysia seen tracking the movement earlier.

However, he said the Healthcare Index continued to be under pressure with a loss of more than 2.1 per cent mainly on a decline in glove stocks, which was likely due to profit-taking activities.

He also saw profit-taking activities in selected counters after yesterday's rally.

AmInvestment Bank Bhd yesterday said the average selling price (ASP) of rubber gloves was likely to decline as there was no longer a rush for gloves compared to what happened at the beginning of the pandemic.

“We reckon the ASP will begin to ease after the first half of 2021 following the strong increase over the past nine months,” it said.

Nonetheless, the bank said the ASP would stabilise at a higher level than the pre-pandemic level due to the broader usage of gloves.

Glove stocks led the losses among heavyweights, with Top Glove declining 27 sen to RM6.36, Hartalega falling 64 sen to RM12.26 and Supermax dropping 40 sen to RM6.71.

Meanwhile, Press Metal was 38 sen stronger at RM8.66 and PetChem expanded 13 sen to RM7.55.

Maybank added nine sen to RM8.39 and IHH gained eight sen to RM5.53.

Of the actives, PNE lost 10.5 sen to 52.5 sen, while Techna-X and Iris was 1.5 sen higher at 16 sen and 40 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 0.13 of-a-point to 11,748.63, the FBMT 100 Index was 0.86 of-a-point lower at 11,489.39, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 36.07 points to 13,218.91.

The FBM 70 shed 11.97 points to 14,809.11 and the FBM ACE was 2.23 points weaker at 10.689.80.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 103.70 points to 15,169.44, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 2.70 points to 178.24 and the Plantation Index retreated 11.02 points to 7,472.10. ― Bernama




Source: Malay Mail

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