Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia remained in positive territory at midday, primarily driven by gains in selected banking stocks, as investors awaited Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) overnight policy rate (OPR) decision scheduled for Thursday.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased by 1.07 points to 1,701.61 from Tuesday's closing figure of 1,700.54. The benchmark index had opened the day slightly higher, up by 0.42 points at 1,700.96.

Market breadth was negative, as there were more losing stocks than gaining ones, with 750 losers to 332 gainers. Additionally, 466 counters remained unchanged, 1,224 were untraded, and 17 were suspended. The overall turnover amounted to 2.47 billion units, valued at RM1.61 billion.

The BNM Monetary Policy Committee is expected to meet tomorrow, with the market consensus predicting that the OPR will remain unchanged at 2.75 percent for the remainder of 2026.

Among the market heavyweights, Maybank's shares remained stable at RM10.56, Public Bank increased by one sen to RM4.92, and AMMB Holdings rose by seven sen to RM6.82. However, CIMB Group fell by four sen to RM7.81, Tenaga Nasional decreased by 10 sen to RM13.66, and IHH Healthcare slipped by eight sen to RM8.07.

On the most active list, Zetrix AI saw a decline of 2.5 sen, settling at 24 sen, while Focus Dynamics gained half a sen to one sen, and Ingenieur Gudang rose by one sen to 4.5 sen. Velesto Energy added 1.5 sen to 24.5 sen, and Ni Hsin Group advanced by two sen to 26 sen.

Among the top gainers were United Plantations, which rose by 48 sen to RM32.52, Hengyuan Refining, which gained 35 sen to RM2.88, and Petronas Chemicals, which increased by 30 sen to RM4.37. Manulife Holdings and Kuala Lumpur Kepong also saw gains, rising by 25 sen to RM2.57 and 24 sen to RM22.08, respectively.

Conversely, among the top losers, Nestle saw a decrease of RM1.62, falling to RM97.08, while Malaysian Pacific declined by 66 sen to RM39.60. BLD Plantation slipped by 50 sen to RM14.50, Hong Leong Industries eased by 34 sen to RM17.50, and Fraser and Neave shed 28 sen to RM25.00.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell by 18.64 points to 12,586.36, the FBMT 100 Index declined by 18.53 points to 12,395.31, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped by 12.28 points to 12,379.70. The FBM 70 Index dropped by 139.01 points to 17,777.48, while the FBM ACE Index eased by 36.48 points to 5,150.00.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index advanced by 78.07 points to 9,393.35, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose by 1.98 points to 186.57, and the Energy Index gained 9.84 points to 799.68. Meanwhile, the Financial Services Index fell by 31.53 points to 20,006.94.