Bursa Malaysia Higher At Midday Break On Broad-based Bargain Hunting

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher on bargain hunting across the board, led by buying in heavyweight stocks, mainly in the consumer products, telecommunications, and plantation sectors.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 2.68 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 1,614.14 from Tuesday’s close of 1,611.46.

The benchmark index opened 3.61 points higher at 1,615.07 and moved between 1,613.60 and 1,619.58 throughout the session.

The market breadth was positive, with 585 gainers, 382 losers, and 471 counters unchanged, while 1,234 were untraded and eight suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.46 billion units, valued at RM1.56 billion.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said in a note today that with the consumer products and services sector being the only outperformer yesterday, it continues to favour 99 Speedmart and Mr DIY Group stocks.

The brokerage added that the RM15 billion cash aid allocation under Budget 2026’s Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) and Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) programmes is expected to lift consumer spending.

Meanwhile, given the worsening US-China trade relations, the brokerage expects the FBM KLCI to continue trading in a cautious mode.

Among the heavyweight counters, Public Bank gained two sen to RM4.23, and IHH Healthcare improved three sen to RM8.08. Tenaga Nasional slipped four sen to RM13.16, and CIMB Group dropped one sen to RM7.34, while Maybank was unchanged at RM9.92.

In active trading, Genting Malaysia rose two sen to RM2.34, while Tanco Holdings and Pharmaniaga added half a sen each to 86.5 sen and 26.5 sen, respectively.

Top Glove garnered two sen to 70.5 sen, and Velesto Energy added one sen to 26.5 sen.

Among the top gainers, Nestle rose RM1.10 to RM103.20, Genting Bhd jumped 34 sen to RM3.35, and Spritzer rallied 27 sen to RM2.38. United Malacca gained 18 sen to RM5.95, and Frontken improved 15 sen to RM4.54.

Top decliners included Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia and Fraser & Neave Holdings, which fell 46 sen each to RM16.12 and RM27.64, respectively. United Plantations dropped 24 sen to RM23.20, Malaysian Pacific Industries lost 20 sen to RM28.84, and Heineken Malaysia eased 18 sen to RM20.16.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 39.20 points to 12,076.23, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 36.39 points to 11,804.47, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 32.25 points to 12,143.73.

The FBM 70 Index bounced 125.41 points to 17,148.43, and the FBM ACE Index jumped 90.75 points to 5,284.18.

By sector, the Financial Services Index gained 29.68 points to 18,207.66, the Industrial Products and Services Index shaved 0.04 of a point to 173.53, and the Energy Index advanced 4.74 points to 794.58.

 The Plantation Index rose 25.24 points to 7,854.62.

-- BERNAMA