Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session on a positive note, driven by renewed buying interest across various sectors, with significant contributions from industrial products, financial, and telecommunications stocks. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) saw an increase of 20.68 points or 1.42 percent, closing at 1,475.44, up from the previous close of 1,454.76.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the benchmark index opened stronger by 19.29 points at 1,474.05 and fluctuated between 1,472.14 and 1,479.03 during the morning session. The broader market reflected positive sentiment with 667 gainers surpassing 243 decliners, while 346 counters remained unchanged, 1,127 were untraded, and nine were suspended. The turnover reached 1.93 billion shares, valued at RM1.05 billion.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that traders are closely observing the upcoming visit of China President Xi Jinping to Malaysia from April 15-17, anticipating potential increases in investment flows. Additionally, Malaysian glove manufacturers might benefit from a widening tariff differential compared to Chinese competitors, alongside decreasing raw material costs that could enhance demand and profit margins. In the technology sector, the lifting of export restrictions on NVIDIA’s H20 AI chips to China may offer short-term relief for the data center supply chain, though market sentiment might remain volatile due to potential ‘special-focus’ tariffs on semiconductors by China.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional rose by 8.0 sen to RM9.90 and RM13.30 respectively. CIMB Group increased by 7.0 sen to RM6.72, while Public Bank went up by 6.0 sen to RM4.30. In contrast, IHH Healthcare saw a decline of 5.0 sen to RM6.75.
Active stocks included Inari Amertron, which climbed 11.0 sen to RM1.77, MY EG Services advanced 2.5 sen to 92.5 sen, Tanco Holdings increased by 2.0 sen to 80 sen, and NationGate Holdings added 1.0 sen to RM1.24. Bina Puri Holdings remained unchanged at 34.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased by 146.67 points to 10,956.75, the FBMT 100 Index rose 143.38 points to 10,745.05, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index surged 161.03 points to 10,765.94. The FBM 70 Index improved by 177.06 points to 15,442.99, while the FBM ACE Index advanced 77.28 points to 4,489.47.
In sectoral performance, the Financial Services Index climbed 186.12 points to 17,720.65, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 3.0 points to 142.43, the Energy Index added 4.1 points to 652.84, and the Plantation Index strengthened by 125.50 points to 7,188.03.