Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session Higher
KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher, amid bargain-hunting activities after yesterday’s sharp losses.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 14.36 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 1,714.57, from Monday’s close of 1,700.21.
The benchmark index opened 4.02 points higher at 1,704.23 and fluctuated between 1,704.23 and 1,715.82 during the session.
Gainers led decliners 521 to 465, while 488 counters were unchanged, 1,150 untraded and 22 suspended.
Market turnover stood at 1.74 billion shares valued at RM1.61 billion.
Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) said the FBM KLCI may stage a short-term bounce mirroring Wall Street’s technical recovery, with gains likely to be capped around 1,730–1,754 as investors remain cautious about the scale and timeline of escalating Middle East tensions.
“A key risk factor is the Strait of Hormuz, a critical macro ‘circuit breaker’, given that roughly 20 million barrels per day (bpd) or about 20 per cent of global petroleum liquids consumption passes through it.
“According to news reports, Iran announced that the strait is closed and has threatened to set fire to any ship attempting to pass, adding further volatility to markets,” added the investment bank.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank increased 12 sen to RM11.84, CIMB appreciated eight sen to RM8.02, TNB rose 14 sen to RM14.42, Hong Leong Bank was flat at RM23.40, and Sunway fell three sen to RM5.66.
On the most active list, Bumi Armada grew one sen to 36 sen, Tanco gained three sen to RM1.64, Zetrix AI grew half-a-sen to 78.5 sen, Pegasus Heights was flat at half-a-sen, and GDB Holdings eased half-a-sen to 37.5 sen.
Among the top gainers, Nestle widened RM1.90 to RM108.80, Petronas Dagangan and Hong Leong Financial Group were 30 sen higher at RM22.56 and RM21.42, respectively, while Malaysian Pacific Industries garnered 26 sen to RM21.26.
As for the top losers, Dutch Lady shed 32 sen to RM32.10, Ajinomoto declined 18 sen to RM13.62, Kelington reduced by 13 sen to RM5.17, and Keck Seng dwindled 11 sen to RM5.35.
On the index board, the FBMT100 Index put on 90.22 points to 12,394.93, the FBM Emas Index went up 86.24 points to 12,567.23, the FBM70 Index climbed 65.27 points to 17,379.29, the FBM Emas Shariah Index perked 81.72 points to 12,198.32, and the FBM ACE Index gained 16.19 points to 4,625.19.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was up by 189.90 points to 21,019.0, the Plantation Index eased 18.97 points to 8,177.59, while the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.51 points to 172.90, and the Energy Index rose by 7.35 points to 785.52.
-- BERNAMA
