FBM KLCI closes tentatively higher; firms 0.38%

Stocks in Bursa Malaysia rose 4.48 points to close at 1183.97 points today on buying activities in key heavyweights and selected second liners. It was also the highest close for the benchmark FBM KLCI in 2009. Investors were cheered by a report showing the country’s exports recorded a positive growth of 5.1% m-o-m in June, although it dropped by 22.6% y-o-y to RM45.1 billion. Besides that, imports rose 9.4% on a monthly basis but declined 20.9% as compared to last year to RM36.0 billion. The positive data in exports provides further evidence that the global trade have gained a firmer ground in second quarter of 2009.

Strong buying interest was seen in property and construction stocks on expectations the local economy would rebound in the latter part of the year. However, overall gains were limited as market sentiment was weighed down by overnight losses on Wall Street following a series of downbeat economic indicators.

The Finance Index added 0.97% to 9708.40 points, the Plantation Index gained 0.23% to 5773.52 points and the Properties Index jumped 1.79% to 783.39 points. The market traded within a range of 5.04 points between an intra-day high of 1183.97 and a low of 1178.93 during the session.


Actively traded stocks include KNM, SAAG, COMMERZ, EQUINE, MULPHA, HOVID, SIME, AFFIN-WC, IRIS and Handal. Trading volume increased to 1.03 bil shares worth RM1.54 bil as compared to Wednesday's 924 mil shares worth RM1.62 bil.

Leading Movers were MAYBANK (+10 sen to RM6.85), COMMERZ (+14 sen to RM10.64), MISC (+10 sen to RM8.90), MMC (+7 sen to RM2.66) and PPB (+14 sen to RM15.00).

Lagging Movers were BAT (-76 sen to RM48.00), SIME (-2 sen to RM8.31),
GENTING MALAYSIA (-2 sen to RM2.91), PARKSON HOLDINGS (-10 sen to RM5.53) and PUBLIC BANK (-1 sen to RM9.95). Market breadth was positive with 524 gainers as compared to 186 losers.