Bursa Malaysia’s Key Index Stays Higher at Midday on Bargain Hunting

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 – Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index maintained its upward momentum through the Friday morning session, rising 0.33 per cent by midday as bargain hunting in key blue-chip heavyweights supported market sentiment.

At 12:30 PM, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 5.44 points to reach 1,635.80, compared with Thursday’s close of 1,630.36.

The index had opened 3.51 points higher at 1,633.87 and traded within a range of 1,630.63 to 1,640.78 throughout the morning session.

Despite the rise in the benchmark index, broader market breadth remained slightly tilted toward decliners, with 507 stocks falling compared to 499 gainers. Another 494 counters traded unchanged, 1,273 remained untraded, and 24 were suspended. Half-day trading volume reached 2.24 billion shares valued at RM1.26 billion.

Heavyweights and Active Counters

Financial, utility, and healthcare blue chips provided the primary support to the key index:

• Tenaga Nasional advanced 16 sen to RM13.06.
• IHH Healthcare expanded 11 sen to RM7.81.
• Maybank climbed 9 sen to RM10.04.
• Public Bank added 4 sen to RM4.71.
• CIMB edged down 1 sen to RM7.68.

Active trading was led by technology and glove counters. JCY International surged 10 sen to 65.5 sen, Top Glove inched up 3.5 sen to 77 sen, V.S Industry ticked up 2 sen to 29 sen, and Jaks Resources added half a sen to 18.5 sen. Conversely, Zetrix AI declined 2.5 sen to 14 sen.

Technology firms dominated the top gainers list:

• Malaysian Pacific Industries: Surged 84 sen to RM41.96.
• UWC & United Plantations: Both perked up 36 sen to RM7.46 and RM31.32, respectively.
• Vitrox & UMS Integration: Both accumulated 34 sen to RM10.34 and RM8.99, respectively.

Decliners were led by plantation and consumer counters:

• Kuala Lumpur Kepong: Led losses, dropping 46 sen to RM20.96.
• Enra: Fell 29 sen to 69 sen.
• Allianz Malaysia: Declined 28 sen to RM20.72.
• BLD Plantations: Shed 26 sen to RM14.74.
• Dutch Lady Milk Industries: Erased 20 sen to RM29.80.

Index and Sectoral Performance

Sectoral indices posted gains across the board at the midday break:

• The Financial Services Index climbed 55.60 points to 19,116.51.
• The Plantation Index gained 4.58 points to 9,031.15.
• The Energy Index rose 1.06 points to 836.07.
• The Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.99 of a point to 178.72.

Across broader market indices:

• The FBM Mid 70 Index rose 115.75 points to 17,474.73.
• The FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 66.45 points to 12,079.46.
• The FBM Emas Index added 51.08 points to 12,194.61.
• The FBM Top 100 Index advanced 50.09 points to 11,983.24.
• The FBM ACE Index improved 6.33 points to 5,489.30.

–NMT