Kuala Lumpur:The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) saw a rebound at midday, gaining 10.18 points to reach 1,654.14, up from Tuesday's close of 1,643.96, driven by bargain hunting in selected heavyweight stocks, particularly in the utilities sector, although overall market breadth remained negative.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the index opened 2.53 points higher at 1,646.49 and moved within a range of 1,645.03 to 1,656.87 during the session. Utilities stocks were at the forefront of the gains, with Tenaga Nasional increasing by 32 sen to RM13.04, Petronas Gas rising by 20 sen to RM17.38, and YTL Corporation edging up by one sen to RM2.30.
Despite the gains in the index, the broader market witnessed decliners outnumbering gainers by 603 to 350, with 521 counters remaining unchanged, 1,381 untraded, and 95 suspended. The turnover amounted to 1.92 billion shares valued at RM1.49 billion.
Apex Securities Bhd noted in a statement that the energy sector, one of the only two sectors to gain, might experience a reversal of some gains following a dip in Brent crude oil prices overnight amid ongoing US-Iran talks. At the time of reporting, Brent crude had risen by 0.48 percent to US$103.08 per barrel.
In terms of heavyweight stocks, Maybank increased by five sen to RM10.04, while Public Bank decreased by two sen to RM4.70. CIMB added one sen to RM7.79, and IHH Healthcare rose by three sen to RM7.90. Among active traders, Zetrix AI remained flat at 16.5 sen, V.S Industry increased by 1.5 sen to 25 sen, and Gamuda recovered by 20 sen to RM5.18. Jaks Resources and Tanco each rose by half a sen to 19.5 sen and 16.5 sen, respectively.
Top gainers included Nestle, which rose by RM1.20 to RM90.12, United Plantations, which gained 28 sen to RM31.60, and UMS Integration, which added 20 sen to RM8.81. Ayer edged up by 18 sen to RM7.78, and Allianz Malaysia advanced by 14 sen to RM21.
Hengyuan Refining led the decliners, falling by 57 sen to RM3.77, and its trading was suspended for the remainder of the day after breaching the prescribed price limit. Malaysian Pacific Industries dropped by 44 sen to RM40.36, Eurospan by 25 sen to RM2.99, Kuala Lumpur Kepong by 22 sen to RM22.28, and MI Technovation by 17 sen to RM5.22.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index decreased by 48.14 points to 17,561.95. In contrast, the FBM Emas Index rose by 40.32 points to 12,305.79, and the FBM Top 100 Index gained 46.83 points to 12,098.37. The FBM Emas Shariah Index increased by 69.56 points to 12,197.17, while the FBM ACE Index fell by 33.86 points to 5,494.72.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index saw a slight rise of 0.32 points to 181.18. However, the Energy Index fell by 18.32 points to 850.38. Meanwhile, the Financial Services Index gained 10.75 points to 19,271.60, and the Plantation Index added 16.55 points, reaching 9,232.89.