BURSA MALAYSIA REMAINS STEADY AT MID-AFTERNOON

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 (Bernama) --Bursa Malaysia’s key index stayed in the positive territory at mid-afternoon, with the broader market maintaining its high note as risk appetite picked up.

At 3.01 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 6.85 points to 1,676.61 from Friday’s close of 1,669.76. The index had opened slightly lower at 1,669.08.

Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing losers 518 to 437, while some 502 counters were unchanged, 1,198 untraded, and 17 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.53 billion shares worth RM1.26 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained six sen to RM10.50, CIMB Group jumped 15 sen to RM8.25, Public Bank was four sen higher at RM4.53 and Tenaga Nasional shed 10 sen to RM13.68.

On the most active list, Insights Analytics rose 33 sen to RM1.46, Capital A gained 1.5 sen to 42.5 sen, Tanco was unchanged at RM1.18, Zetrix AI fell half a sen to 80.5 sen, and Pharmaniaga was flat at 28 sen.

Among the top gainers, Hong Leong Financial Group surged 52 sen to RM19.50, Malayan Cement and Malaysian Pacific were 30 sen higher at RM8.09 and RM31.50, respectively, Dutch Lady was 18 sen better at RM31.34 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 16 sen to RM19.96.

Of the top decliners, Hong Leong Industries eased 48 sen to RM16.12, Petronas Dagangan was 28 sen lower at RM19.78, and LPI Capital fell 18 sen to RM14.80.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 65.39 points to 12,321.84, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 68.54 points to 12,127.20, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 46.05 points to 12,112.55.

The FBM Mid 70 Index jumped 181.78 points to 17,034.26, and the FBM ACE Index added 5.34 points to 4,928.61.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased by 173.18 points to 19,763.17, the Energy Index edged up 0.65 of-a-point to 767.42, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.61 points to 173.77, and the Plantation Index rose 2.41 points to 8,273.50.

-- BERNAMA