Kuala Lumpur: Bargain hunting in financial services and utilities heavyweights has driven the key index higher at midday, despite mostly weaker performances across regional markets. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) saw an increase of 22.19 points, or 1.49 percent, reaching 1,507.02 compared to Wednesday's close of 1,484.83. The benchmark index, which began the day 3.96 points higher at 1,488.79, fluctuated between 1,487.0 and 1,507.64 during the morning trading session.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the market breadth remained positive, with 503 gainers outpacing 160 decliners, while 593 counters were unchanged, 1,134 remained untraded, and 13 were suspended. The turnover was recorded at 1.86 billion shares valued at RM1.44 billion. UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research, Mohd Sedek Jantan, noted that the FBM KLCI is stabilizing, supported by the cooler-than-expected US inflation figures released on Wednesday.
However, Mohd Sedek Jantan indicated that this subdued inflation data might not offer robust support amid ongoing 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.
In terms of heavyweights, CIMB rose by 26 sen to RM7.26, Tenaga Nasional added 32 sen to RM13.32, and Public Bank increased by 9.0 sen to RM4.42, contributing a combined 10.77 points to the gains in the composite index. Among the active stocks, ACE-debutant Saliran dropped four sen to 23 sen after opening at 27.5 sen, while Nationgate gained 14 sen to RM1.31, NexG rose by half-a-sen to 26 sen, and Sapura Energy edged up by 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 by 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 rose 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 gained 13.90 points to 698.22.