Banking Stocks Lift Bursa Malaysia Ahead Of BNM's OPR Decision
KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia maintained its upward momentum at midday, boosted by renewed interest in banking and financial counters ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) overnight policy rate (OPR) announcement later today.
Market players anticipate the BNM to hold the OPR at 2.75 per cent at today’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.63 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 1,761.50 from Wednesday’s close of 1,756.87.
The benchmark index, which opened 5.94 points higher at 1,7621.81, hovered between 1,758.42 and 1,768.46 during the morning trading session.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 588 to 494, while 557 counters were unchanged, 1,012 untraded and nine suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.32 billion units, valued at RM2.00 billion.
Among heavyweights, Public Bank gained 15 sen to RM4.94, CIMB Group added nine sen to RM8.02, Maybank rose six sen to RM11.28 and Tenaga Nasional improved two sen to RM14.82, while IHH Healthcare edged up five sen to RM8.90.
On the most active list, Pegasus Heights was unchanged at half-a-sen and Zetrix AI slipped half-a-sen to 86.5 sen, while AirAsia X gained four sen to RM1.29, SMRT Holdings rose 1.5 sen to 21.5 sen and Capital A added one sen to 44.5 sen.
Among the top gainers, Fraser & Neave Holdings expanded 90 sen to RM30, Nestle increased 70 sen to RM101.60 and Hong Leong Bank added 52 sen to RM22.64, while Malayan Cement and Allianz Malaysia gained 36 sen each to RM7.03 and RM21.16, respectively.
As for the top losers, Petronas Chemicals fell 43 sen to RM5.44, MISC lost 37 sen to RM8.31, Press Metal Aluminium declined 22 sen to RM8.60, Gas Malaysia dropped 20 sen to RM5.30, and Bintulu Port shed 15 sen to RM5.50.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 33.53 points to 12,997.02, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 34.80 points to 12,842.19 and the FBM 70 Index added 54.48 points to 18,462.82, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 53.55 points to 12,871.72, and the FBM ACE Index declined 9.80 points to 4,652.20.
By sector, the Financial Services Index gained 281.87 points to 20,518.10, while the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 3.03 points to 194.49, the Energy Index fell 15.34 points to 816.45, and the Plantation Index eased 14.50 points to 8,953.47.
-- BERNAMA