KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher, with the key index rising by 0.44 per cent amid buying support for banking and plantation counters.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.36 points to 1,693.90 from last Friday’s close of 1,686.54.
The market barometer, which opened 0.53 points higher at 1,687.07, moved between 1,686.57 and 1,696.21 during the session.
In the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 546 to 409, while 525 counters were unchanged, 1,170 were untraded, and 55 were suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.89 billion units valued at RM1.08 billion.
Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd, in a note today, said the FBM KLCI is poised to extend its recovery this week, but upside momentum may be tested by formidable barriers around 1,700–1,720.
“Investor focus will be on Malaysia’s advanced fourth quarter (4Q) 2025 gross domestic product (GDP) release on Jan 15, 2026 (consensus: up 4.6 per cent year-on-year), rising geopolitical risks, the US Supreme Court tariff verdict and the start of the US 4Q 2025 earnings season.
“That said, Malaysia’s fundamentals remain supportive, underpinned by solid GDP growth (2025/26: 4.8 per cent/4.5 per cent), attractive valuation, a stronger ringgit (up 8.9 per cent versus end-2024), and core earnings growth of 7.6 per cent in calendar year 2026,” it said.
Among the heavyweight financial stocks, Maybank rose 10 sen to RM10.96, CIMB firmed five sen to RM8.20, Hong Leong Bank jumped 22 sen to RM23.28, and RHB increased three sen to RM7.88.
Public Bank was flat at RM4.58, Tenaga Nasional climbed two sen to RM13.58, and IHH Healthcare improved five sen to RM8.58.
On the most active list, Ingenieur gained 1.5 sen to 4.5 sen and Pharmaniaga inched up half a sen to 29 sen, while MMAG, Zetrix AI and Dagang Nexchange were flat at 6.5 sen, 83 sen and 35 sen, respectively. Tanco fell four sen to RM1.19.
Of the top gainers, United Plantations surged 98 sen to RM34.30, Fraser & Neave advanced 60 sen to RM36.60, IGB firmed 24 sen to RM3.69, Hong Leong Financial Group climbed 18 sen to RM19.92, and UMS Integration gained 17 sen to RM3.90.
As for the top decliners, Nestle dropped RM1.10 to RM119.90, Malaysian Pacific Industries and Far East Holding lost 30 sen each to RM33.00 and RM4.10, respectively, Vitrox gave up 12 sen to RM4.57, and Genting fell five sen to RM2.91.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 54.84 points to 12,519.35, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 55.74 points to 12,307.99, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 51.91 points to 12,299.82.
The FBM Mid 70 Index climbed 89.67 points to 17,538.91, while the FBM ACE Index went down 16.49 points to 4,985.00.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index firmed 121.92 points to 20,164.87, the Energy Index notched up 6.36 points to 787.58, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.32 of a point to 173.01, and the Plantation Index rose 111.11 points to 8,601.69.
-- BERNAMA
