Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia remained higher at midday, aligned with most regional markets, as it was buoyed by easing US Treasury yields and softer oil prices. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) surged 12.11 points to 1,748.44, up from Monday's close of 1,736.33. The benchmark index opened 3.07 points higher at 1,739.40 and fluctuated between 1,735.70 and 1,751.02 during the morning trading session.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the broader market showed positivity, with gainers outnumbering losers 683 to 414, while 523 counters remained unchanged, 1,234 were untraded, and 49 were suspended. The turnover amounted to 2.25 billion units, valued at RM1.88 billion. Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that Bursa Malaysia is expected to be firmer following Wall Street's overnight rebound, supported by easing US Treasury yields and softer oil prices. The technology sector may benefit from recovering semiconductor sentiment.
Regionally, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up 0.68 percent to 25,685.40, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.69 percent to 66,309.72, South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index advanced 1.84 percent to 6,867.05, while Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.11 percent to 5,729.64.
Among heavyweight counters, Maybank gained two sen to RM10.58, Public Bank was four sen higher at RM5.14, and CIMB Group added 10 sen to RM8.06. Tenaga Nasional slid 12 sen to RM14.42, and IHH Healthcare was five sen higher at RM8.20. The most active list saw NationGate up 25 sen to RM1.74, Zetrix AI increased by 1.5 sen to 67 sen, VS Industry edged up half a sen to 22.5 sen, Ni Hsin rose one sen to 15.5 sen, and YTL Corporation climbed 14 sen to RM2.56.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, surging RM1.16 sen to RM42.66. YTL Power International jumped 41 sen to RM5.78, Kelington improved by 39 sen to RM8.75, while Hong Leong Industries and Allianz Malaysia garnered 36 sen each to RM17.88 and RM22.06, respectively. Among the top losers, Batu Kawan shed 38 sen to RM20.62, Dutch Lady Milk Industries slipped 28 sen to RM31.72, Hong Leong Bank lost 12 sen to RM22.84, Ta Ann shed 11 sen to RM6.18, and MISC decreased by nine sen to RM8.49.
For the broader indices, the FBM ACE Index rose 40.01 points to 5,338.59, the FBM 70 Index climbed 205.00 points to 18,274.24, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 98.52 points to 12,727.88. The FBM Emas Index improved 107.21 points to 12,925.81, while the FBM Top 100 Index gained 101.94 points to 12,737.73. By sector, the Financial Services Index leapt 79.00 points to 20,349.42, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.89 points to 187.95. However, the Plantation Index fell 12.47 points to 9,497.95, while the Energy Index was 2.22 points lower at 775.22.