Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher, buoyed by bargain hunting in heavyweight stocks across healthcare, industrial, and consumer products sectors, after a previous day's decline. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) improved by 4.68 points, or 0.29 per cent, reaching 1,619.87, up from Monday's close of 1,615.19. The benchmark index started the day 2.10 points higher at 1,617.29, fluctuating between 1,617.29 and 1,622.75 throughout the session.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the market exhibited mixed breadth, with 445 gainers, 457 losers, and 514 counters unchanged, while 1,243 were untraded and nine suspended. Turnover reached 1.80 billion units, valued at RM1.75 billion. Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expressed continued optimism for the solar sector following the Budget 2026 announcement. The firm noted that ongoing US-China trade tensions and positive results from Top Glove might prompt traders to explore opportunities in glove-related stocks.
In Budget 2026, the government outlined the energy transition agenda, introducing the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) with a goal for 70 per cent of electricity generation capacity to come from renewable energy sources by 2050. Among the heavyweights, Maybank remained stable at RM9.93, Public Bank increased by two sen to RM4.24, and Tenaga Nasional climbed four sen to RM13.30. IHH Healthcare rose six sen to RM8.05, while CIMB Group decreased by three sen to RM7.40.
In terms of active stocks, Genting Malaysia surged 19 sen to RM2.33, and Tanco Holdings added one sen to 86 sen. NexG eased 3.5 sen to 46.5 sen, Top Glove slipped one sen to 69.5 sen, and VS Industry fell 1.5 sen to 54.5 sen. Leading gainers included Nestle, which jumped RM1.70 to RM101.30, Fraser and Neave Holdings, which rose 44 sen to RM28.10, Hong Leong Bank, which increased by 18 sen to RM20.64, and Malayan Cement, which gained 17 sen to RM6.85.
Top decliners featured Malaysian Pacific Industries, dropping 64 sen to RM29.66, and Petronas Dagangan, falling 24 sen to RM22.76. Petronas Gas and PIE Industrial decreased by 20 sen to RM18.74 and RM3.33, respectively, while Country View declined by 13 sen to RM2.82. On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 31.86 points to 12,110.40, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 37.84 points to 11,836.99, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased by 25.44 points to 12,198.24. The FBM 70 Index rose 70.61 points to 17,155.04, and the FBM ACE Index gained 18.59 points to 5,269.00.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 35.95 points to 18,258.01, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.33 of a point to 174.85, and the Plantation Index added 3.58 points to 7,868.70, while the Energy Index dropped 1.86 points to 793.31.