Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-afternoon, aligning with most regional markets despite ongoing cautious sentiment due to the conflict in West Asia. At 3.01 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) saw an increase of 3.66 points to 1,729.39, up from Monday's close of 1,725.73.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the benchmark index opened with a slight gain of 0.21 of a point at 1,725.94. The broader market showed a positive trend, with 540 gainers outnumbering 447 losers. Additionally, 550 counters remained unchanged, 1,199 were untraded, and 16 were suspended. The turnover amounted to 1.80 billion units valued at RM1.56 billion.

Heavyweight stocks exhibited mixed performances. Maybank dropped eight sen to RM10.76, Tenaga Nasional decreased by two sen to RM14.48, while Public Bank gained eight sen to RM5.28. CIMB Group and IHH Healthcare both increased by two sen, reaching RM8.03 and RM8.32, respectively.

In terms of the most active stocks, Zetrix AI rose by two sen to 74.5 sen, NationGate Holdings gained eight sen to RM1.31, and Mr D.I.Y fell by nine sen to RM1.53. HHRG and Velesto Energy remained flat at 11.5 sen and 25 sen, respectively.

Leading gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which rose RM1.32 to RM47.34. Kelington Group added 36 sen to RM8.56, Kuala Lumpur Kepong increased by 28 sen to RM21.28, UMS Integration jumped 23 sen to RM7.69, and Dufu Technology Corp surged 19 sen to RM2.82.

Top losers were led by Nestle, which fell RM1.80 to RM100.90. Hong Leong Industries slipped 16 sen to RM17.84, Petronas Gas decreased by 12 sen to RM17.34, while Gas Malaysia and Kim Loong Resources each declined by 11 sen to RM5.06 and RM2.67, respectively.

Among broader indices, the FBM Mid 70 Index advanced by 97.10 points to 18,207.62. The FBM Emas Shariah Index increased by 31.14 points to 12,588.51, and the FBM ACE Index rose by 19.69 points to 5,001.01. The FBM Emas Index grew by 38.56 points to 12,790.98, while the FBM Top 100 Index added 36.96 points to 12,622.16.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.44 of a point to 187.74, the Financial Services Index surged by 88.91 points to 20,527.11, and the Plantation Index increased by 42.66 points to 9,347.72. However, the Energy Index eased slightly by 0.17 of a point to 763.72.