Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia remained higher at mid-afternoon, driven by consistent buying in selected heavyweights, particularly in the financial services, utilities, and industrial products and services sectors.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, CIMB added 27 sen to RM7.92, Tenaga Nasional gained 30 sen to RM13.48, and Petronas Chemicals increased by 13 sen to RM3.13. These stocks collectively lifted the composite index by a total of 9.96 points.
At 3 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 16.69 points, or 1.04 percent, to 1,621.16 from last Friday's close of 1,604.47. The benchmark index opened 3.79 points firmer at 1,608.26.
Meanwhile, market breadth was negative with decliners outnumbering gainers 609 to 478, while 498 stocks remained unchanged, 1,104 were untraded, and 10 were suspended. Turnover stood at 2.99 billion units worth RM1.55 billion.
Among other heavyweights, Axiata increased by 9.0 sen to RM2.50, Press Metal Aluminium rose 10 sen to RM6.81, CelcomDigi climbed 6.0 sen to RM3.34, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 76 sen to RM19.44, and Gamuda decreased by 12 sen to RM5.23.
On the most active list, Tanco edged up 2.0 sen to RM1.15, while Perak Transit and TWL Holdings inched up half-a-sen each to 26.5 sen and 3.0 sen, respectively. However, Inari Amertron slid 22 sen to RM1.97, while Zetrix AI remained flat at 82.5 sen.
In terms of top gainers, Nestle rose RM2.60 to RM109.50, BLD Plantation increased 70 sen to RM16.50, Hong Leong Industries advanced 64 sen to RM15.64, Dutch Lady gained 50 sen to RM30.50, and Petronas Dagangan firmed up 62 sen to RM20.44.
Among the top losers, PPB Group shed 22 sen to RM10.78, Can-One fell 20 sen to RM1.65, and Ajinomoto slipped 16 sen to RM13.50.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 77.82 points to 11,993.79, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 46.96 points to 11,897.86, and the FBMT 100 Index advanced 81.93 points to 11,782.90. However, the FBM ACE Index decreased by 14.52 points to 4,810.10, and the FBM Mid 70 Index went down 54.71 points to 16,801.37.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index jumped 194.31 points to 18,770.26, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.69 points to 165.72, and the Energy Index rose 3.19 points to 750.97, while the Plantation Index shrank 23.74 points to 8,048.38.