Bursa Malaysia Higher Across The Board At Midday

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia was higher across the board at midday today, in line with most regional peers and tracking Wall Street’s positive overnight performance, said an analyst. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 5.57 points or 0.33 per cent to 1,641.01 from Thursday’s close of 1,641.44.

The benchmark index opened 1.85 points higher at 1,643.29 and moved between 1,641.71 and 1,648.57 throughout the morning session. 

Market breadth was positive, with advancers outpacing decliners 499 to 354, while 482 counters remained unchanged, 1,157 untraded, and 19 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.28 billion units valued at RM972.96 million. 

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, in a note, said in anticipation of today’s Budget 2025 announcement, investors may want to consider sectors such as construction, property, building materials, and utilities as they are likely to be key beneficiaries. 

It also sees potential in selected plantation, oil and gas, and finance stocks offering attractive dividend yields. 

On the technical front, the brokerage firm expects resistance to be around the 1,647-1,652 level and the support to be at 1,612-1,617.

Among the heavyweights, PMetal climbed 12 sen to RM4.84, Axiata garnered 5.0 sen to RM2.40, Genting was 6.0 sen higher at RM4.05, QL Resources rose 7.0 sen to RM4.80, and YTL Corporation added 3.0 sen to RM2.28. 

For the active counters, Northeast Group was up 4.0 sen to 53 sen, WCT and Bina Puri Holdings added 1.5 sen to 93 sen and 36 sen, respectively, MYEG was up by 1.0 sen to 90.5 sen, and Tanco rose 3.0 sen to RM1.37.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 55.01 points to 12,378.57, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased by 72.74 points to 12,290.20.

The FBMT 100 Index was up by 54.81 points to 12,080.56, the FBM 70 Index strengthened by 132.43 points to 17,755.05, and the FBM ACE Index was 13.31 points better at 5,105.42.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 36.84 points to 19,492.08, the Energy Index edged up 2.53 points to 858.83, the Plantation Index improved 21.81 points to 7,272.04, and the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 1.17 of-a-point to 176.40.

-- BERNAMA