Bursa Malaysia Higher At Midday, Tracking Gains In Most Regional Peers
By Zufazlin Baharuddin
KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained higher at midday, tracking the upbeat performance of most regional peers.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.67 points to 1,704.35 from yesterday’s close of 1,701.68.
The benchmark opened 1.58 points lower at 1,700.10 and moved between 1,699.02 and 1,707.52 during the morning session.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 454 to 431. A total of 481 counters were unchanged, 1,300 untraded and 10 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.40 billion shares valued at RM1.12 billion.
Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.08 per cent to 25,981.77, Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 2.52 per cent to 55,632.90, and South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 3.70 per cent to 5,735.11, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 0.03 per cent to 4,858.97.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng told Bernama investors were hoping the war would end soon but remained cautious after US President Donald Trump hinted at ending the Iran war.
“We still have to be cautious because Trump often makes U-turns,” he said, adding that today’s gains had yet to recover Monday’s losses.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank jumped 12 sen to RM11.78, Public Bank rose two sen to RM4.77, CIMB Group gained 13 sen to RM7.98, Tenaga Nasional was unchanged at RM14.14, and IHH Healthcare slipped three sen to RM8.98.
On the most active list, AirAsia X and Zetrix AI fell half-a-sen each to RM1.24 and 78 sen respectively, Capital A declined two sen to 43 sen, while GDB Holdings and Pegasus Heights were unchanged at 37 sen and half-a-sen respectively.
Among the top gainers, Petronas Dagangan rose 44 sen to RM21.94, Hong Leong Financial Group gained 26 sen to RM20.86, Fraser & Neave Holdings added 34 sen to RM32.20, UMS Integration Ltd advanced 27 sen to RM4.78, and Allianz Malaysia climbed 20 sen to RM21.50.
Among the top losers, Nestle fell RM1.90 to RM102.10, Malaysian Pacific Industries slid 48 sen to RM30.06, Petronas Gas declined 10 sen to RM17.50, QL Resources shed nine sen to RM3.93, and Spritzer lost eight sen to RM2.69.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index jumped 31.99 points to 12,302.58, the FBM Emas Index climbed 30.76 points to 12,458.56, the FBM 70 Index advanced 101.96 points to 17,166.66, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index firmed 25.80 points to 12,127.45, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 4.58 points to 4,354.64.
By sector, the Financial Services Index gained 94.03 points to 20,771.09, and the Energy Index rose 6.22 points to 787.77, while the Plantation Index fell 6.10 points to 8,361.39 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.12 of-a-point to 171.96.
-- BERNAMA