Bursa prices close mixed
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 – Bursa Malaysia closed mixed today in tandem with the softer regional markets as investors adopted a wait-and-see attitude, dealers said.
They said the investors were also awaiting more clues by policymakers to boost global economic growth.
The benchmark FBM KLCI fell 3.69 points to close at 1,650.09.
Vice president and head of retail research, Affin Investment Bank, Dr Nazri Khan, said the FBM KLCI’s underlying trend will remain firm in the near term with the next target at 1,660, to be largely driven by large-capitalised and quality defensive stocks.
“The FBM KLCI’s underlying trend remains upbeat ahead of Budget 2013 and positive corporate results as well as the better-than-expected growth in Malaysia’s second quarter gross domestic product,” he said.
The Finance Index slipped 26.01 points to 14,761.09, Industrial Index fell 6.95 points to 2,896.53 and the Plantation Index eased 34.41 points to 8,690.63.
The FBM Emas Index shed 12.27 points to 11,287.99 and the FBMT100 Index fell 15.89 points to 11,109.29.
The FBM70 Index gained 24.11 points to 12,440.74 and the FBM Ace Index jumped 53.44 points to 4,525.39.
Advancers outnumbered decliners by 432 to 332 while 322 counters were unchanged, 536 untraded and 15 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 1.562 billion shares worth RM1.402 billion from 1.113 billion shares worth RM1.185 billion yesterday.
Of the actives, Ingenuity Solutions gained seven sen to 30 sen, Ingenuity Solutions warrants rose 5.5 sen to 18.5 sen, 1 Utopia added one sen to 7.5 sen and Astral Supreme increased four sen to 38 sen.
Among heavyweights, Maybank gained three sen to RM8.94, Sime Darby lost one sen to RM9.79, CIMB eased three sen to RM7.88 and Petronas Chemicals increased one sen to RM6.63. – Bernama
