Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session on a positive note as select heavyweight stocks, particularly within the industrial products, services, and financial services sectors, saw increased investor interest. This occurred amid a backdrop of cautious sentiment in regional markets, as analyzed by market experts.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) experienced an uptick of 4.41 points, closing at 1,592.62 compared to the previous day's close of 1,588.21. The benchmark index opened slightly higher by 3.71 points at 1,591.92, navigating between 1,590.31 and 1,596.02 during the morning session.

Market breadth was negative with 457 declining stocks surpassing 420 gainers. There were 429 unchanged counters, 1,288 untraded, and 17 suspended. The turnover reached 1.54 billion units with a value of RM1.31 billion.

Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, noted that local institutions' recent 'accumulation stance' has been supportive of the market. He projected that the index would fluctuate within the 1,585-1,595 points range for the day. He also highlighted Wall Street's mixed close as traders took profit on tech stocks due to concerns over high valuations and the US Federal Reserve's announcement regarding the delay in rate cuts, owing to inflationary pressures.

Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank remained steady at RM9.80, CIMB increased by 10 sen to RM7.46, Nestle grew by 50 sen to RM89.50, and Petronas Chemicals rose by 52 sen to RM4.70. In the most active category, Green Packet gained half a sen to 4.5 sen, Tanco climbed one sen to 74 sen, while Borneo Oil stayed flat at half a sen.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index added 20.74 points to 11,803.57, the FBMT 100 Index increased by 18.97 points to 11,587.27, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 12.25 points to 11,711.59. Conversely, the FBM Mid 70 Index saw a decline of 30.74 points to 16,572.72, and the FBM ACE Index decreased marginally by 0.88 points to 4,695.04.

In sectoral performance, the Financial Services Index rose by 51.22 points to 18,216.36, the Plantation Index increased by 12.37 points to 7,604.97, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up by 2.26 points to 162.99. Meanwhile, the Energy Index fell by 1.46 points to 748.76.