Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session in positive territory, in line with gains across Asian markets and mirroring Wall Street's overnight rally. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.91 points or 0.58 per cent to 1,693.54, from last week's close of 1,683.63. The key index opened 6.76 points up at 1,690.39 and moved between 1,690.39 and 1,697.48 throughout the morning trading session.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbering decliners 681 to 420, while 447 counters were unchanged, 1,149 untraded, and 36 suspended. Turnover stood at 3.04 billion shares worth RM1.79 billion. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng noted Wall Street ended on a positive note, bolstered by SpaceX's solid debut in addition to the potential US-Iran peace deal. He added that with the view of shifting liquidity to Hong Kong anchored by SpaceX, trading activities within the region are expected to stay quiet, with the index likely to trend between the 1,680-1,690 range.
Regionally, Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 1.01 per cent to 5,076.59, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.45 per cent to 24,829.62, South Korea's benchmark Kospi leapt 5.60 per cent to 8,578.62, and Japan's Nikkei advanced by 5.03 per cent to 69,349.27. Among heavyweights, Maybank earned 16 sen to RM10.88, Public Bank grew six sen to RM4.89, Tenaga Nasional increased 18 sen to RM14.60, and CIMB rose 22 sen to RM7.61.
As for active stocks, Hong Seng and Top Glove were flat at one sen and 80.5 sen, respectively. Tanco lost 6.5 sen to 13.5 sen, Pentech added 6.5 sen to 26.5 sen, and Zetrix AI slid half a sen to 80.5 sen. Of the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries added RM1.44 to RM48.94, UMS gained 58 sen to RM8.60, SAM Engineering accumulated 55 sen to RM4.90, and Batu Kawan was 50 sen firmer at RM20.80.
Among top losers, Paragon slipped 98 sen to RM2.29, Nestle edged down 76 sen to RM94.84, Press Metal lost 50 sen to RM8.47, and Petronas Chemicals decreased 40 sen to RM4.94. On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 94.39 points to 12,569.01, the FBM Top 100 Index added 89.90 points to 12,405.85, the FBM ACE Index strengthened 77.98 points to 4,746.65, and the FBM Mid 70 Index perked up 205.39 points to 18,089.54, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index inched up 52.88 points to 12,475.18.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 248.01 points to 19,892.37, and the Plantation Index grew 2.75 points to 8,754.83. The Industrial Products and Services Index shed 4.74 points to 192.19, and the Energy Index declined 10.50 points to 764.87.