Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia extended its upward trend at midday amidst a backdrop of mostly declining regional markets. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) recorded an increase of 0.35 per cent, or 6.05 points, reaching 1,736.94 from the previous close of 1,730.89.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the barometer index opened at 1,732.62, marking its lowest level in the morning session, before peaking at an intraday high of 1,744.82. The broader market showed more losers than gainers, with 581 counters losing, 339 gaining, 580 unchanged, and 61 suspended among the 1,190 untraded.
Market turnover was significant, with 1.45 billion shares exchanged, valued at RM1.33 billion. Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, noted that Wall Street had ended with mixed results. A focus on selling technology stocks followed Microsoft’s earnings and guidance that did not meet expectations. In addition, the US 10-year yield experienced a slight dip to 4.23 per cent.
Hong Leong Investment Bank indicated that the recent movements in FBM KLCI were considered a profit-taking pullback rather than a trend reversal. They expressed a positive outlook for a mid- to long-term advance toward levels of 1,771, 1,800, and 1,822, provided there is no decisive breakdown below key supports at 1,707 and 1,700.
Heavyweight stocks saw varied performances. Maybank and CIMB rose by 14 sen each to RM11.78 and RM8.61, respectively. Public Bank increased by five sen to RM4.90. However, Tenaga Nasional dropped six sen to RM13.94, and IHH Healthcare decreased by two sen to RM8.84.
In the list of most active counters, Capital A fell by two sen to 61.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange slipped 1.5 sen to 30.5 sen, SP Setia went down by one sen to 96.5 sen, while Tanco gained two sen to RM1.36.
Top gainers included Hong Leong Bank, which rose by 50 sen to RM24.82, and Hong Leong Financial, up 30 sen to RM22.00. Dutch Lady Milk Industries and Ta Ann also saw gains, moving up 16 sen to RM33.26 and 14 sen to RM4.73, respectively. Conversely, Nestle experienced a decline, dropping RM1.70 to RM112.30, while Batu Kawan decreased by 18 sen to RM19.40. Malaysian Pacific Industries and United Plantations each lost 14 sen, reaching RM32.06 and RM30.44.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index increased by 33.01 points to 12,532.85, and the FBM Emas Index rose by 28.44 points to 12,719.94. However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined by 28.17 points to 12,250.06. The FBM ACE Index fell by 23.53 points to 4,720.25, and the FBM Mid 70 Index decreased by 1.75 points to 17,465.68.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index saw a rise of 261.20 points to 21,397.54, the Plantation Index climbed 10.11 points to 8,375.09, and the Energy Index increased by 4.31 points to 757.37. In contrast, the Industrial Products and Services Index slightly edged down by 0.24 points to 175.90.