Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia remained positive at mid-afternoon, continuing its upward trajectory due to sustained buying in selected heavyweights, notably in the financial services and utilities sectors. At 3 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased by 24.29 points to 1,698.46, compared to the previous day's close of 1,674.17. The benchmark index opened 10.68 points higher at 1,684.85.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth was positive with gainers outnumbering losers 792 to 398, while 377 counters were unchanged, 1,087 remained untraded, and 19 were suspended. The turnover stood at 2.42 billion units valued at RM2.17 billion, indicating a robust trading day.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank saw a rise of 22 sen to RM11.68, Public Bank increased by 13 sen to RM4.87, CIMB Group climbed 11 sen to RM7.88, Tenaga Nasional went up 22 sen to RM14.06, and IHH Healthcare gained 26 sen, reaching RM8.91. On the most active list, AirAsia X surged 18 sen to RM1.28, Capital A advanced 3.5 sen to 44.5 sen, Zetrix AI edged up 1.5 sen to 78.5 sen, while Pharmaniaga remained flat at 24 sen. Hibiscus Petroleum saw a decline of 26 sen to RM2.13.
Top gainers were led by Nestle, which climbed RM1.20 to RM103.80, followed by Allianz Malaysia, which increased 50 sen to RM21. Malaysian Pacific Industries added 92 sen to RM29.96, Hong Leong Financial Group gained 54 sen to RM20.64, and Hong Leong Bank advanced 56 sen to RM22.86. Conversely, United Plantations slid 88 sen to RM30.82, Hengyuan Refining Company shed 32 sen to RM1.58, MISC slipped 29 sen to RM8.44, while Hibiscus Petroleum and Petronas Chemicals both declined 26 sen to RM3.89 and RM2.13, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index jumped 172.46 points to 12,236.73. The FBM Emas Index rose 167.68 points to 12,392.18, the FBM 70 Index leapt 227.53 points to 16,969.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index soared 167.68 points to 12,392.18, and the FBM ACE Index increased 107.50 points to 4,314.23. By sector, the Financial Services Index surged 415.17 points to 20,686.51; however, the Plantation Index slid 81.43 points to 8,358.58, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.38 points to 171.09, and the Energy Index dropped 26.12 points to 780.62.