Bursa Malaysia Higher At Midday, In Sync With Regional Markets

KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher on Thursday, in line with gains across regional markets.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 5.82 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 1,517.32  from Wednesday’s close of 1,511.50.

The benchmark index opened 0.39 of a point higher at 1,511.89, and subsequently moved between 1,511.64 and 1,519.50 throughout the session.

The broader market was positive with gainers outnumbering decliners 418 to 374, while 430 counters were unchanged, 1,235 untraded and eight suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.89 billion units worth RM1.12 billion.

The local market was in sync with most of its regional peers -- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched up 0.07 per cent to 24,534.84, Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.40 per cent to 4,148.59, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained by 0.24 per cent to 39,759.93, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.05 per cent to 3,184.85. 

In a note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expects the local benchmark index to remain in consolidation phase.

“For today, we expect the index to hover within the 1,500-1,510 range,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank rose one sen each to RM9.54 and RM4.24, respectively. IHH Healthcare went down one sen to RM6.51, while Tenaga Nasional and CIMB were flat at RM13.68 and RM6.50, respectively.

As for the most active stocks, iCents Group gained 9.5 sen to 33.5 sen, Tanco added one sen to 90.5 sen, Lotte Chemical Titan improved 6.5 sen to 57 sen, and NexG climbed half-a-sen to 49 sen, while Zetrix AI eased one sen to 94 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index garnered 36.79 points to 11,407.82, the FBMT 100 Index edged up 37.21 points to 11,169.86, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 46.14 points to 11,450.09.

The FBM 70 Index was 30.62 points higher at 16,552.01, while the FBM ACE Index went up 29.95 points to 4,612.03.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 53.65 points to 17,297.41, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.25 points higher at 153.88, the Energy Index ticked up 0.99 of a point to 736.66, and the Plantation Index strengthened 7.07 points to 7,413.86.

-- BERNAMA