Bursa Malaysia Stays Higher At Midday In Line With Regional Market Gains
KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained higher at midday, tracking regional markets which rose after US President Donald Trump signalled a potential end to the war with Iran.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 23.39 points to 1,697.56 from yesterday’s close of 1,674.17.
The benchmark index, which opened 10.68 points higher at 1,684.85, fluctuated between 1,684.85 and 1,700.90 during the morning session.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 768 to 376. A total of 361 counters were unchanged, 1,149 untraded and 19 suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.14 billion units valued at RM1.83 billion.
Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index expanded 1.45 per cent to 4,825.37 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.56 per cent to 25,804.70, Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 2.36 per cent to 53,975.65, and South Korea’s KOSPI improved 4.62 per cent to 5,494.66.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that although Trump has hinted that the conflict with Iran may end soon, the relief is anticipated to be short-lived given his unpredictable nature; thus, volatility on Wall Street is expected to persist.
“We believe aerospace and defence leaders such as Lockheed Martin and RTX Corporation will remain on investors' radars, as the White House has been organising meetings to accelerate defence production with a potential US$50 billion supplemental budget,” it said in a note today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank jumped 16 sen to RM11.62, Public Bank rose 13 sen to RM4.87, CIMB Group went up 10 sen to RM7.87, Tenaga Nasional climbed 24 sen to RM14.08, and IHH Healthcare gained 26 sen each to RM8.91.
On the most active list, AirAsia X surged 16 sen to RM1.26, Capital A advanced 2.5 sen to 43.5 sen, Zetrix AI edged up one sen to 78 sen, Pharmaniaga was flat at 24 sen, and Hengyuan Refining Company fell 26 sen to RM1.64.
Top gainers were led by Nestle, which climbed RM1.70 to RM104.30, while Allianz Malaysia increased 52 sen to RM21.02, Malaysian Pacific Industries added RM1.02 to RM30.06, Hong Leong Financial Group jumped 54 sen to RM20.64, and Fraser & Neave advanced 50 sen to RM32.12.
As for the top losers, United Plantations slid 64 sen to RM31.06, Hibiscus Petroleum and Petronas Chemicals Group declined 21 sen each to RM2.18 and RM3.94 respectively, MISC slumped 30 sen to RM8.43, and Far East Holdings reduced 18 sen to RM4.00.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index jumped 168.37 points to 12,232.64, the FBM Emas Index climbed 164.76 points to 12,389.25, the FBM 70 Index advanced 232.83 points to 16,974.86, the FBM Emas Shariah Index firmed 122.03 points to 12,051.49, and the FBM ACE Index rose 104.00 points to 4,310.73.
By sector, the Financial Services Index gained 367.34 points to 20,638.68, while the Plantation Index trimmed 74.63 points to 8,365.38, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 1.18 points to 171.29, and the Energy Index dropped 20.36 points to 786.38.
-- BERNAMA