KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session on a positive note, supported by buying interest in selected technology stocks, which saw increased demand following strong signals of growth in artificial intelligence (AI).
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 3.01 points to 1,720.28 from Monday’s close of 1,717.27.
The benchmark index opened 4.13 points higher at 1,721.40, and traded between 1,714.12 and 1,727.72 during the morning session.
Market breadth, however, was negative, with losers surpassing gainers by 630 to 446, while 463 counters remained unchanged, 1,179 untraded, and 86 suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.07 billion units, valued at RM1.44 billion.
RHB Investment Bank (RHB IB) said in a note today that elevated geopolitical risks and the energy crisis have not stifled investments in Malaysia’s data centre (DC) sector.
“On-the-ground checks and discussions with industry players and DC suppliers point to sustained demand from hyperscalers and colocation providers, with limited changes to planned investment.
“Strong demand for AI-related workloads remains a key structural tailwind, mitigating supply chain concerns and potentially higher build-out costs,” it added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose eight sen to RM11.18, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.73, CIMB improved five sen to RM7.70, and IHH Healthcare added three sen to RM8.80, while Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.58.
On the most active list, UEM Sunrise rose six sen to 65 sen, MRCB bagged 1.5 sen to 33 sen, and WCT gained four sen to 46.5 sen. Zetrix AI and VS Industry eased one sen each to 86 sen and 21.5 sen, respectively.
Top gainers included Fraser and Neave, which advanced 54 sen to RM31.22, KESM strengthening 43 sen to RM4.16, UMS Integration improving 23 sen to RM6.77, Dutch Lady firming 20 sen to RM32.70 and Vstecs gaining 13 sen to RM5.19.
Top losers included Malaysian Pacific Industries and Nestle, which shaved 82 sen each to RM37.06 and RM98.30, respectively. Petronas Dagangan fell 56 sen to RM19.76, Allianz decreased 38 sen to RM20.78, and UWC lost 12 sen to RM5.15.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 17.00 points to 12,733.13, the FBM Top 100 Index gained 19.28 points to 12,568.67, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 15.91 points to 12,676.00, the FBM Mid 70 Index went up 16.44 points to 18,185.52, but the FBM ACE Index slipped 17.66 points to 4,640.36.
By sector, the Financial Services Index firmed 61.19 points to 20,038.11, while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.07 of a point to 194.84, the Energy Index shaved 4.00 points to 827.61, and the Plantation Index reduced 27.91 points to 8,806.66. – BERNAMA
