Kuala Lumpur:Bursa Malaysia's key index remained in positive territory at mid-afternoon, buoyed by ongoing buying interest in selected heavyweights, particularly in the transportation, logistics, and banking sectors. Notably, MISC, CIMB, and Public Bank collectively contributed 5.82 points to the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI). MISC rose 27 sen to RM8.19, CIMB gained 10 sen to RM7.60, and Public Bank added five sen to RM4.75.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 3 pm, the FBM KLCI increased by 6.69 points to 1,623.94, up from Tuesday's close of 1,623.35. The benchmark index opened 0.59 points higher at 1,623.94. Despite the gains in the key index, overall market breadth was negative, with 562 decliners surpassing 413 gainers. A total of 522 counters remained unchanged, while 1,358 were untraded, and 21 were suspended. The turnover stood at 2.24 billion units worth RM1.67 billion.
Among other notable heavyweights, IHH Healthcare increased 10 sen to RM8.08, Sunway edged up six sen to RM4.46, AMMB Holdings rose 11 sen to RM6.38, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings gained five sen to RM7.30, and Petronas Chemical Group added three sen to RM4.35.
In active trading, Zetrix AI decreased one sen to 5.5 sen, and JAKS Resources fell half a sen to 14.5 sen. Conversely, ACE Market debutant Ecosys surged 53 sen to 80 sen, Top Glove advanced 3.5 sen to 89 sen, and Ni Hsin inched up two sen to 41 sen. Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries surged 56 sen to RM41.72, while Hong Leong Financial and United Plantations climbed 24 sen each to RM17.84 and RM30.82, respectively. Bus Cap jumped 20.5 sen to RM1.20, and MI Technovation rose 20 sen to RM6.70.
Samaiden Group led the losers, falling 25 sen to RM2.82. Other notable decliners included Pekat Group, which declined 23 sen to RM2.68, Solarvest, which erased 20 sen to RM3.90, Critical Holdings, which fell 18 sen to RM2.64, and Fraser and Neave Holdings, which lost 18 sen to RM19.98. Northern Solar Holdings shares hit limit down on Wednesday, leading Bursa Malaysia to suspend intraday short-selling (IDSS) of the stock for the remainder of the day.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index gained 28.30 points to 17,406.30, the FBM Emas Index increased 38.47 points to 12,145.21, the FBM Top 100 Index strengthened by 41.37 points to 11,939.83, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 14.28 points to 12,088.75. However, the FBM ACE Index slid 55.68 points to 5,429.67. Sector-wise, the Energy Index edged down 7.57 points to 827.49, the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 0.52 points to 180.22, the Plantation Index added 33.82 points to 8,846.94, and the Financial Services Index improved 119.76 points to 18,885.93.