KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued to rise in mid-afternoon trading, driven by ongoing bargain hunting in selected heavyweight stocks, particularly in the financial services and telecommunications sectors, analysts said.
At 3 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 3.99 points higher at 1,505.43 from Thursday’s close of 1,501.44.
The benchmark index opened 0.50 of-a-point lower at 1,500.94.
However, the broader market was subdued, with 476 decliners thumping 258 gainers, while 461 counters were unchanged, 1,229 untraded and 25 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.34 billion shares worth RM818.46 million.
Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd said the benchmark index is expected to remain in consolidation mode as investors navigate a volatile mix of global headwinds.
Heightened geopolitical risks in the Middle East and rising concerns about stagflation in the United States, due to the imminent implementation of reciprocal tariffs by President Donald Trump, were highlighted in a note today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank was 9.0 sen firmer at RM9.69, Tenaga was flat at RM14.22, Public Bank grew 3.0 sen to RM4.22, CIMB gained 11 sen to RM6.69, and IHH was 1.0 sen higher at RM6.86.
Of the most actively traded stocks, PUC and MYEG added half-a-sen each to 2.5 sen and 91 sen, respectively, Widad lost half-a-sen to 2.0 sen, Astro Malaysia and Tanco declined 1.0 sen each to 16.5 sen and 94.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 11.39 points to 11,235.13, the FBMT 100 Index increased 17.43 points to 11,021.44, but the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 35.42 points to 11,197.47.
The FBM 70 Index lost 21.38 points to 16,072.07, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 28.92 points to 4,386.13.
By sector, the Financial Services Index soared 151.93 points to 17,482.07 and the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 1.08 to 147.16.
The Plantation Index slid 20.63 points to 7,197.98, and the Energy Index declined by 3.08 points to 736.57
