KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session marginally higher, supported by the continued strength of the ringgit, which lifted investor sentiment.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 1.28 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 1,639.09 from last Friday’s close of 1,637.81.
The benchmark index, which opened 2.73 points lower at 1,635.08, fluctuated between 1,632.54 and 1,641.42 during the session.
In the broader market, decliners beat gainers 581 to 280, while 469 counters were unchanged, 1,433 untraded, and 11 suspended.
Turnover reached 1.41 billion units valued at RM952.46 million.
In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the strengthening ringgit remains a key focal point and could spur greater interest in domestic-driven investment themes.
The stockbroking firm noted a preference for banking heavyweights during the window-dressing period.
"Nonetheless, trading interest was also observed in selected glove stocks, as relative trading volumes have begun to pick up, supported by signs of an earnings recovery in the sector,” it said.
Among the heavyweight counters, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.49 and Tenaga Nasional gained eight sen to RM13.10. Meanwhile, Maybank was unchanged at RM10.30, CIMB Group
slipped three sen to RM7.87, and IHH Healthcare eased two sen to RM8.59.
On the most active list, Tanco Holdings and Mega Fortris were flat at RM1.18 and 79.5 sen respectively, while Velesto Energy added half-a-sen to 28.5 sen, Zetrix AI dropped 1.5 sen to 82 sen, and VS Industry fell two sen to 52 sen.
As for the top gainers, Far East Holdings jumped 30 sen to RM4.50, Malayan Cement surged 29 sen to RM7.08, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Hong Leong Bank rose 12 sen each to RM19.62 and RM21.82 respectively, and Petronas Chemicals advanced 11 sen to RM3.58.
Among the top decliners, Nestle tumbled 50 sen to RM112.80, Dutch Lady declined 42 sen to RM29.96, Malaysian Pacific Industries slid 40 sen to RM31.60, Vitrox Corporation gave up 12 sen to RM4.13, and PGF Capital dropped 11 sen to RM1.82.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 4.34 points to 12,069.69, the FBMT 100 Index edged down 1.12 points to 11,862.18, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 7.50 points to 11,901.70, the FBM 70 Index fell 47.68 points to 16,688.99, and the FBM ACE Index shed 28.56 points to 4,729.63.
By sector, the Energy Index declined 3.83 points to 763.96 and the Plantation Index fell 8.43 points to 8,142.84, while the Financial Services Index climbed 4.03 points to 19,225.73 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.15 points to 170.32. - Bernama
