BURSA MALAYSIA FIRMER AT MIDDAY FOLLOWING WALL STREET'S RALLY

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher, tracking the robust performance on Wall Street last Friday.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.53 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 1,618.68 from Friday’s close of 1,609.15.

The benchmark index opened 1.64 points firmer at 1,610.79 and moved between 1,608.85 and 1,619.95 during the session.

However, market breadth was negative with 600 losers outpacing 433 gainers, while 483 counters were unchanged, 1,121 untraded and 13 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.93 billion units valued at RM1.22 billion.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the positive momentum on Wall Street is expected to spill over into the domestic market, providing a firmer tone for Bursa Malaysia today.

“We believe this will support buying interest within the technology sector, with particular focus on high-momentum counters.

“Resistance is seen at the 1,629–1,634 range, while support remains at 1,594–1,599,” it said.

Among heavyweights, Maybank increased two sen to RM9.89, CIMB Group advanced 10 sen to RM7.40, and IHH Healthcare Bhd climbed 13 sen to RM8.38, while Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional were flat at RM4.22 and RM13.28, respectively.

On the most active list, Dagang Nexchange improved two sen to 32.5 sen and Tanco Holdings edged up one sen to 94.5 sen, while Borneo Oil was unchanged at half-a-sen, Perak Transit eased 2.5 sen to 31.5 sen, and Zetrix AI slipped two sen to 82.5 sen.

Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific surged 80 sen to RM30.80, United Plantations advanced 44 sen to RM25.24, Hong Leong Industries and Hong Leong Bank added 30 sen each to RM14.06 and RM20.86, respectively, while UMS Integration expanded 22 sen to RM5.03.

As for the top losers, MMAG Holdings slid 20 sen to 26 sen, Pentamaster Corporation dipped 17 sen to RM4.12, Perak Corporation eased 14.5 sen to 80 sen, Petronas Dagangan shed 14 sen to RM22.54, and MISC declined 13 sen to RM7.66.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 47.34 points to 12,070.70, the FBMT 100 Index added 51.18 points to 11,812.35,  and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 39.33 points to 12,137.44.

Meanwhile, the FBM 70 Index eased 5.90 points to 17,050.17, while the FBM ACE Index decreased 26.97 points to 5,194.42.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index expanded 114.13 points to 18,237.30, the Plantation Index strengthened 71.03 points to 8,058.12, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.33 of-a-point to 171.94, and the Energy Index improved 1.36 points to 772.60.

-- BERNAMA