Bursa Malaysia Maintains Positive Momentum At Midday

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia maintained its positive momentum at midday, buoyed by continuous buying activities despite negative performance in the regional markets.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.49 points to 1,578.19 from yesterday’s close of 1,576.70.

The benchmark index opened 1.47 points lower at 1,575.23, moved between 1,573.95 and 1,582.34 during the morning session.

In the broader market, gainers beat decliners 494 to 384, while 434 counters were unchanged, with 1,246 untraded and seven suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.60 billion units worth RM1.29 billion.

At the time of writing, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index shed 0.95 per cent to 41,904.62, Singapore’s Straits Times Index weakened 0.26 per cent to 4,287.15, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.40 per cent to 25,395.16, and China’s SSE Composite Index shed 0.96 per cent to 3,820.98.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's IDX Composite Index rose 0.92 per cent to 7,872.73 and South Korea’s Kospi Index increased 0.22 per cent to 3,179.36.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng remains confident that the local bourse remains well supported by local institutions.

“We expect the index to trend in the 1,575-1,585 range today,” he told Bernama.

According to Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, the market may focus on sectors like banks and consumer, with some of the top picks including AMMB Holdings Bhd and 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd, for which the company has just announced its expansion into China.

“Meanwhile, traders can monitor solar-related counters such as Pekat Group Bhd and Northern Solar Holdings Bhd, which are currently in an uptrend underpinned by government initiatives like National Energy Transition Roadmap, net energy metering, and large-scale solar projects,” it said in a note.

Among heavyweight stocks, Petronas Gas inched up two sen to RM18.72, IHH Healthcare up seven sen to RM6.87, CIMB Group was flat at RM7.24, while Maybank shed six sen to RM10.00 and Public Bank slid three sen to RM4.27. 

In actively traded stocks, Tanco Holdings grew 9.5 sen to 80 sen, Velesto Energy climbed one sen to 21.5 sen, Sime Darby garnered six sen to RM2.08, while TWL went down half-a-sen to 2.5 sen and NexG shed two sen to 47 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 31.60 points to 11,720.91, the FBMT 100 Index gained 27.52 points to 11,491.72, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 62.05 points to 11,691.34.

The FBM Mid 70 Index soared 113.03 points to 16,4767.55, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 63.77 points to 4,740.89.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index accumulated 0.82 of-a-point to 162.18, and the Energy Index increased by 6.73 points to 745.63, while the Financial Services Index declined 41.56 points to 18,105.25, and the Plantation Index was 2.35 points lower at 7,5983.13.

-- BERNAMA