Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia remained higher at midday, bolstered by news of the United States extending its 90-day tariff truce with China until November 10, which lifted market sentiment. At 12:30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased by 2.96 points, or 0.19 percent, to 1,566.20 from the previous day’s close of 1,563.24. The benchmark index had initially opened 1.41 points lower at 1,561.83 and fluctuated between 1,561.83 and 1,572.97 during the session.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, despite the overall rise, market breadth was negative, with 454 losers outnumbering 404 gainers, while 441 counters remained unchanged, 1,222 were untraded, and eight were suspended. The turnover stood at 1.58 billion units valued at RM1.06 billion. A Malacca Securities research note mentioned that traders are awaiting key US inflation data and monitoring an upcoming Trump-Putin meeting in Ukraine. The note highlighted a negative tone on Wall Street due to limited progress in de-escalating trade tensions, expecting profit-taking activities to emerge locally.

The US consumer price index (CPI) report, due for release tonight, is anticipated to show a higher rate of 2.8 percent for the headline CPI and 3.0 percent for the core CPI in July, compared to 2.7 percent and 2.9 percent in June. This data is expected to influence the Federal Reserve’s decision on potential rate cuts.

Meanwhile, Malacca Securities pointed out that the technology sector might remain in focus due to a significant investment of US$100 billion by Apple Inc in the US, potentially benefiting Inari Amertron Bhd and Frontken Corp Bhd. Among major players, Maybank rose by 6.0 sen to RM9.71, Public Bank increased by 1.0 sen to RM4.41, and CIMB went up by 2.0 sen to RM6.96, while Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare saw declines of 10 sen and 8.0 sen, respectively.

In active trading, Classita added 1.0 sen to 10 sen, NexG rose by 2.0 sen to 39.5 sen, while Zetrix AI and Tanco eased by half-a-sen each to 89 sen and 74 sen, respectively. TWL inched up by half-a-sen to 3.0 sen.

Across the broader market, the FBM Emas Index gained 19.45 points to 11,666.58, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 17.55 points to 11,447.27, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased by 7.51 points to 11,655.18, the FBM ACE Index decreased by 13.79 points to 4,606.43, and the FBM Mid 70 Index advanced by 7.55 points to 16,603.19.

By sector, the Financial Services Index expanded by 76.0 points to 17,803.83, the Plantation Index gained 63.68 points to 7,527.76, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased by 1.05 points to 159.83, and the Energy Index ticked up by 1.65 points to 737.01.