Bargain Hunting Lifts Bursa Malaysia At Midday, CI Up 1.49 Pct

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Bernama) -- Bargain hunting in financial services and uitlities heavyweights lifted the key index higher at midday, amid the mostly weaker regional market performance.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 22.19 points, or 1.49 per cent, to 1,507.02 from Wednesday’s close of 1,484.83.  

The benchmark index, which opened 3.96 points higher at 1,488.79, moved between 1,487.0 and 1,507.64 during the morning trading session.

The market breadth was positive, with gainers leading decliners 503 to 160, while 593 counters were unchanged, 1,134 untraded, and 13 suspended. 

Turnover stood at 1.86 billion shares worth RM1.44 billion.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI is stabilising, aided by the cooler-than-expected US inflation figures released on Wednesday. 

However, he said this subdued inflation data may not provide robust support due to prevailing concerns over trade tariffs and a potential US recession. 

“While the Malaysian market may experience temporary calm and avoid another significant sell-off today, price fluctuations are expected to remain pronounced.

“Consequently, the degree of fluctuation (volatility) could present buying opportunities, with bargain hunting emerging as the FBM KLCI currently touches oversold territory,” he told Bernama.

Heavyweights, CIMB rose 26 sen to RM7.26, Tenaga Nasional added 32 sen to RM13.32, and Public Bank increased 9.0 sen to RM4.42. These counters contributed a combined 10.77 points to the gains in the composite index.

As for the actives, ACE-debutant Saliran fell four sen to 23 sen after opening at 27.5 sen, while Nationgate gained 14 sen to RM1.31, NexG rose half-a-sen to 26 sen, and Sapura Energy perked up half-a-sen to 4.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index jumped 177.57 points to 11,228.79, the FBM 70 Index soared 293.61 points to 15,957.94, the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 159.70 points to 10,894.19, the FBM ACE Index increased 93.52 points to 4,492.49, and the FBMT 100 Index leapt 172.90 points to 11,009.17.

By sector, the Plantation Index climbed 17.83 points to 7,311.87, the Financial Services Index surged 287.04 points to 18,487.82, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 2.64 points to 151.59, and the Energy Index garnered 13.90 points to 698.22.

-- BERNAMA