BURSA MALAYSIA RISES 20.68 POINTS AT MIDDAY ON BROAD-BASED BUYING

KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher, supported by renewed buying interest across the board, with gains led by industrial products, financial, and telecommunications heavyweights.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 20.68 points or 1.42 per cent to 1,475.44 from Friday’s close of 1,454.76.

The benchmark index had opened 19.29 points firmer at 1,474.05 and moved between 1,472.14 and 1,479.03 throughout the morning trading session.

In the broader market, gainers thumped decliners 667 to 243, with 346 counters unchanged, 1,127 untraded and nine suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.93 billion shares worth RM1.05 billion.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said traders will closely monitor China President Xi Jinping’s visit to Malaysia from April 15-17 amid hopes for increased investment flows into the country.

“Meanwhile, we believe Malaysian glove makers could benefit from the widening tariff differential against Chinese counterparts. Coupled with easing raw material costs, this could support stronger demand and margin expansion.

“On the tech front, the reversal of export restrictions on NVIDIA’s H20 AI chips to China may provide a short-term reprieve for the data centre supply chain, but reports of a potential ‘special-focus’ tariff on semiconductors by China could keep market sentiment volatile in the near term,” it said in a note today.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional added 8.0 sen to RM9.90 and RM13.30 respectively, CIMB Group gained 7.0 sen to RM6.72, and Public Bank advanced 6.0 sen to RM4.30.

Meanwhile, IHH Healthcare declined 5.0 sen to RM6.75.

Among the actives, Inari Amertron surged 11.0 sen to RM1.77, MY EG Services advanced 2.5 sen to 92.5 sen, Tanco Holdings rose 2.0 sen to 80 sen, and NationGate Holdings added 1.0 sen to RM1.24.

Bina Puri Holdings was flat at 34.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index jumped 146.67 points to 10,956.75, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 143.38 points to 10,745.05, the FBM Emas Shariah Index surged 161.03 points to 10,765.94, the FBM 70 Index improved 177.06 points to 15,442.99, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 77.28 points to 4,489.47.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 186.12 points to 17,720.65, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 3.0 points to 142.43, the Energy Index added 4.1 points to 652.84, and the Plantation Index strengthened 125.50 points to 7,188.03.

-- BERNAMA