KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher, driven by buying interest, particularly in the healthcare, financial and consumer products counters.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.81 points to 1,758.64, compared with Friday’s close of 1,752.83.
The benchmark index had opened 4.14 points higher at 1,756.97, and moved between 1,753.32 and 1,759.21 throughout the session.
The broader market was positive with gainers outpacing losers 514 to 420, while 521 counters were unchanged, 1,325 counters untraded, and 24 suspended.
Market turnover stood at 1.44 billion shares worth RM1.17 billion.
In a research note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said United States President Donald Trump’s new 15 per cent global tariff order is lower than the previously imposed 19 per cent rate on Malaysia, thus it would improve market sentiment and bode well for the FBM KLCI, particularly export-oriented sectors such as technology.
Among heavyweights, Maybank was unchanged at RM12.22 and Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.16, Public Bank rose six sen to RM5.09 and IHH Healthcare gained 16 sen to RM9.00, while CIMB Group eased one sen to RM8.48.
On the most active list, VS Industry added half-a-sen to 39.5 sen, Tanco improved two sen to RM1.48 and Zetrix AI advanced 1.5 sen to 85 sen, while Astro Malaysia slipped half-a-sen to 9.5 sen and Velesto Energy was unchanged at 31.5 sen.
Top gainers Nestle surged RM2.50 to RM112.20, United Plantations added 58 sen to RM30.58, PPB Group up 22 sen to RM11.08, Malaysian Pacific Industries rose 18 sen to RM30.76, and Chin Teck Plantations jumped 16 sen to RM10.88.
As for the top losers, Hong Leong Financial Group fell 42 sen to RM21.78, Malayan Cement slid 21 sen to RM8.48, Press Metal Aluminium shed 15 sen to RM7.55, Bintulu Port slipped 15 sen to RM5.35, and Fraser & Neave declined 14 sen to RM33.00.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 46.05 points to 12,713.94, the FBM Emas Index rose 46.76 points to 12,893.54, the FBM 70 Index advanced 82.80 points to 17,828.50, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 39.89 points to 12,408.18, and the FBM ACE Index added 3.91 points to 4,826.03.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 29.79 points to 21,645.46, and the Plantation Index improved 46.80 points to 8,466.78, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.86 of-a-point to 177.20, and the Energy Index slipped 2.79 points to 773.09. – BERNAMA
