FBM KLCI Stays Higher At Midday

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) remained in positive territory at midday, supported by continuous buying in selected heavyweights.

At 12.30 pm, the benchmark rose 7.07 points to 1,605.54 from yesterday’s close of 1,598.47.

The index opened at 1,597.01 and traded between 1,595.32 and 1,605.93 throughout the morning trading session.

However, the market breadth was negative with 505 decliners against 419 gainers, while 465 counters were unchanged, 1,261 untraded, and 48 suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.28 billion units worth RM1.35 billion.  

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng remains optimistic about FBM KLCI’s performance, buoyed by the improving market volume which reflects the increasing participation in the broader market.

“As such, we foresee the benchmark index trending within the 1,595-1,610 range for today,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added five sen to RM9.84, Public Bank gained three sen to RM4.31, Tenaga Nasional increased 16 sen to RM13.36 and IHH Healthcare rose eight sen to RM7.45, while CIMB Group was flat at RM7.24.

In active trade, Zetrix AI edged up one sen to 86.5 sen, Tanco Holdings advanced 1.5 sen to 90.5 sen and Bumi Armada climbed two sen to 38 sen, while NexG Bina was unchanged at 10 sen, and Pharmaniaga slid one sen to 27 sen.

As for the top gainers, Nestle jumped 38 sen to RM96.98, Malayan Cement was 42 sen higher at RM7.15, Kelington Group bagged 18 sen to RM5.68, Petronas Dagangan gained 36 sen to RM22.48 and Lim Seong Hai Capital added 15 sen to RM1.70.

Top losers Malaysian Pacific shed 30 sen to RM29.30, Fraser & Neave Holdings fell 18 sen to RM27.08, Batu Kawan dropped 14 sen to RM18.78, PPB Group reduced 22 sen to RM10.10, and Frontken Corp slipped 12 sen to RM4.18.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index soared 34.45 points to 11,974.87, the FBM 100 Index jumped 36.07 points to 11,704.40, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 30.07 points to 12,047.63 and the FBM ACE Index added 13.07 points to 5,164.33, while the FBM 70 Index fell 15.46 points to 16,842.02.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.08 points to 173.16, the Financial Services Index rose 61.43 points to 18,092.63 and the Energy Index gained 8.29 points to 788.20, while the Plantation Index fell 1.05 points to 7,756.76.

-- BERNAMA