Bursa Malaysia Closes Midday Higher As Bargain Hunting And Budget 2027 Optimism Propel Heavyweights

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 – Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index maintained its solid gains at the midday close on Monday, October 12, 2026, driven by selective bargain hunting and sustained investor optimism following the presentation of Budget 2027, tracking a broader rebound across Wall Street markets.

At 12:30 PM, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 7.87 points, or 0.48 per cent, to reach 1,616.32, up from Friday’s close of 1,608.45.

After opening 3.34 points higher at 1,611.03, the key index fluctuated within a range of 1,608.91 and 1,619.30 during the morning session.

Despite the key index’s upward momentum, market breadth across the broader exchange tilted negative, with decliners outnumbering gainers 662 to 318, while 483 counters traded unchanged, 1,364 remained untraded, and 12 were suspended. Midday turnover recorded 1.96 billion units valued at RM1.33 billion.

Heavyweight Performers, Stock Movers, and Index Breakdown

Banking and consumer heavyweights anchored market gains, offsetting declines in the plantation and energy sectors:

• Banking Heavyweights Surge: Financial heavyweights led index gains, with Maybank and Public Bank jumping 12 sen each to RM9.93 and RM4.69, respectively. CIMB added four sen to RM7.30 and Tenaga Nasional gained six sen to RM12.94, while IHH Healthcare dipped two sen to RM7.88.
• Active Trading Counters: Zetrix AI and JAKS Resources each slipped half a sen to eight sen and 17.5 sen, respectively. VS Industry shed two sen to 32.5 sen, Genting tumbled 35 sen to RM1.53, while Nationgate rose four sen to RM2.15.
• Top Market Gainers: Consumer giant Nestle topped the gainers’ list by soaring 78 sen to RM90.94, followed by MISC (up 36 sen to RM7.95), Vitrox (up 24 sen to RM11.24), and both Kuala Lumpur Kepong and KESM (gaining 14 sen each to RM20.76 and RM4.64, respectively).
• Top Market Decliners: United Plantations led the decliners after dropping 26 sen to RM30.44, Genting Malaysia fell 20 sen to RM1.29, Malaysian Pacific dropped 18 sen to RM43.90, Negri Sembilan Oil sank 14 sen to RM5.15, and YTL Power dropped 13 sen to RM5.57.
• Broad Index Movements: The FBM Emas Index gained 8.32 points to 12,107.15 and the FBM Top 100 Index strengthened 17.58 points to 11,888.98. Conversely, the FBM Mid 70 Index declined 142.43 points to 17,540.68, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 11.55 points to 12,118.23, and the FBM ACE Index lost 63.24 points to 5,591.33.
• Sectoral Indices Performance: The Financial Services Index surged by 185.08 points to 18,609.90. In contrast, the Plantation Index lost 13.47 points to 8,876.79, the Energy Index eased 2.80 points to 834.77, and the Industrial Products and Services Index contracted 0.91 of a point to 179.84.

–NMT