Buoyant on bargain hunting

SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia closed higher yesterday on bargain hunting,
dealers said.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 6.95 points, or 0.45 percent, to close at 1,562.59 after opening 2.81 points higher at 1,558.45.

The index got a boost from CIMB’s share recovery after its Thailand unit,CIMB Thai Bank plc, reported a net profit of 536.4 million baht in the first half ended June 30, 2011.

CIMB advanced 9 sen to RM8.53. Its share price has been weak over the past two days on talk the Indonesian central bank may limit foreign ownership on domestic banks later this year.

The strong overnight rebound of the US stock market and positive leads from Asian bourses also prompted investors to take positions.

Asian markets were higher yesterday boosted by healthy earnings reports from US companies and optimism that US and European politicians could work together to address their debt problems.

Market breadth was bullish with 472 gainers as compared with 266 losers. Trading volume, however, declined to 803.41 million shares worth RM1.3 billion from 977.86 million shares worth RM1.94 billion on Tuesday.

The Finance Index jumped 85.88 points to 14,718.68, Plantation Index gained 28.28 points to 7,691.16 and the Industrial Index rose 5.21 points to 2,850.54.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Emas Index added 48.97 points to 10,711.02, FTSE Bursa Malaysia Mid 70 Index expanded 61.38 points to 11,640.87 and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Ace Index was 18.12 points higher at 4,114.75.

A dealer said market players were excited at the listing of Bumi Armada today, which would generate interest in the local bourse, especially in the oil and gas counters.

Of the active stocks, Ingenuity Solutions rose 1.5 sen to 9.5 sen, Ariantec Global was flat at 4 sen, while DVM Technology slipped 3 sen to 14 sen.

In heavyweights, Maybank gained 4 sen to RM8.84, Petronas Chemicals was up 2 sen at RM7.10 and Sime Darby added 5 sen to RM9.13.

Volume on the Main Market declined to 524.49 million shares worth RM1.25 billion from 668.4 million shares worth RM1.88 billion on Tuesday.

Turnover on the ACE Market slipped to 181.46 million units valued at RM29.4 million from 193.44 million shares valued at RM40.38 million previously.- Bernama