KUALA LUMPUR — The benchmark index of Bursa Malaysia ended higher during the morning session today, supported by continued buying interest in heavyweight stocks, in line with positive regional market performance.
At 12:30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.98 points or 0.59% to 1,712.28 compared to yesterday’s closing of 1,702.30.
The index opened higher by 0.31 points at 1,702.61 and traded within a range of 1,700.54 to 1,716.64 throughout the morning session.
Market sentiment remained positive with gainers outnumbering losers at 593 to 451, while 519 counters were unchanged, 1,196 were untraded, and 14 were suspended.
Trading volume stood at 1.96 billion shares valued at RM1.56 billion.
Regional markets also performed well. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.13% to 26,394.86, Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.21% to 5,014.47, South Korea’s Kospi surged 2.34% to 6,364.92, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.28% to 59,578.40.
Analysts from Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted in a report today that the market is awaiting greater clarity on developments in the Middle East. However, the firm remains optimistic about the utilities sector, which continues to benefit from the data centre boom in the country and acts as a proxy to Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s grid upgrade.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank remained unchanged at RM11.34, Public Bank rose seven sen to RM4.76, Tenaga Nasional gained 22 sen to RM14.62, CIMB Group added 22 sen to RM7.81, while IHH Healthcare slipped four sen to RM8.74.
The most active counters saw VS Industry rise two sen to 21 sen, Zetrix AI stayed at 85.5 sen, MTT Shipping (Main Market debutant) fell three sen to RM1.00, AirAsia X jumped nine sen to RM1.39, and Sunway Healthcare remained unchanged at RM1.93.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries which surged RM1.50 to RM35.70, Hong Leong Financial Group rose 42 sen to RM19.30, Dutch Lady Milk Industries gained 36 sen to RM32.38, Hong Leong Bank added 26 sen to RM22.66, and UWC increased 26 sen to RM4.81.
Meanwhile, the biggest losers were Bintulu Port which dropped 34 sen to RM5.25, UMS Integration fell 27 sen to RM5.88, Petronas Chemicals declined 26 sen to RM5.05, Fraser & Neave slipped 24 sen to RM31.22, and Petronas Gas eased 16 sen to RM18.06.
On the broader indices, the FBM Top 100 rose 67.95 points to 12,451.73, FBM Emas gained 73.02 points to 12,616.37, FBM Mid 70 increased 76.84 points to 17,765.42, FBM Emas Shariah added 21.98 points to 12,445.65, and the FBM ACE Index climbed 50.64 points to 4,633.62.
By sector, the Financial Services Index jumped 230.35 points to 20,247.80, while the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 2.27 points, the Energy Index declined 1.32 points, and the Plantation Index dropped 19.13 points.
