Mixed amid worries over US recovery

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed mixed yesterday amid concerns over recovery prospects for the US economy.

Dealers said late buying interest in most market heayweights helped push the market barometer into the positive territory.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) closed 4.36 points higher at 1,210.61 after opening 4.34 points easier at 1,204.01 yesterday morning.

Throughout the day, the FBMKLCI moved between 1,203.27 and 1,210.61.

The FBM Emas Index rose 58.40 points to 8,153.65, the FBM Top 100 added 62.56 points to 7,957.24, the FBM 70 perked 46.39 points to 7,982.94 and the FBM ACE Index gained 6.86 points to 4,102.19.

The Finance Index jumped 82.47 points to 10,016.12, the Plantation Index added 221.45 points to 6,116.48 and the Industrial Index increased 2.17 points at 2,629.77.

Losers led gainers 354 to 238 while 221 counters were unchanged and 450 others were untraded.

Turnover dipped to 572.407 million shares worth RM969.874 million from last Friday's turnover of 618.181 million shares valued at RM871.854 million.

The broader market sentiment was hit by last Friday's slump on Wall Street after US non-farm payrolls dropped more than expected in September, pushing the unemployment rate to a 26-year high of 9.8 per cent.

Sanichi Technology was the most actively traded stock losing 4 sen to 10.5 sen with 316.177 million shares changing hands followed by KNM Group which rose 1.5 sen to 76 sen, IJM-Warrants lost 4.5 sen to 53.5 sen, Land & General eased 1.5 sen to 37.5 sen and Green Packet-Warrants gained 4.5 sen to 27.5 sen.

Among heavyweights that helped escalate the FBM KLCI by 0.361 per cent was Sime Darby, which rose 3 sen to RM8.56, Maybank added 1 sen to RM6.65 and CIMB Group perked up by 36 sen to RM11.50.

Meanwhile, utility giant Tenaga Nasional shed one sen to RM8.20 and plantation-based IOI Corp lost half-a-sen to RM5.17.

FBM KLCI futures contracts were mixed in line with the cash market's performance, dealers said.

The October 2009 contract was flat at 1,216.0, November 2009 lost 0.5 of a point to 1,215.5, December 2009 was unchanged at 1,215.0 while March 2010 was 3.5 points higher at 1,208.0.

Turnover declined to 3,017 lots from 3,601 lots last Friday while open interests rose to 15,421 contracts from 15,227 contracts previously.

The FBM KLCI rose 4.36 points to end at 1,210.61. -Bernama