BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS MORNING SESSION HIGHER

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session higher but on a cautious note, as elevated energy costs and rising inflationary risks persisted amid the ongoing Middle East conflict.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 4.19 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 1,717.39 from Wednesday’s close of 1,713.20.  

The benchmark index opened 0.6 of-a-point lower at 1,712.60 and fluctuated between 1,708.48 and 1,719.112 throughout the morning session.  

Decliners trounced gainers 686 to 291, while 450 counters were unchanged, 1,195 untraded, and 22 suspended.

Market turnover stood at 1.99 billion units valued at RM1.75 billion.

Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) said markets were likely to remain choppy amid an increasingly fragile macroeconomic backdrop as the intensifying Middle East conflict drives up energy costs, revives inflation risks, and threatens the strategic oil chokepoint at the Strait of Hormuz.

“Against this fluid geopolitical backdrop, particularly given the uncertain scale and duration of the conflict, we maintain a defensive stance, favouring domestic-centric sectors with resilient earnings visibility,” the investment bank said in a research note today. 

 Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained two sen to RM11.72, Press Metal rose three sen to RM7.68, Public Bank fell two sen to RM4.88, CIMB shed three sen to RM8.01, and TNB trimmed 10 sen to RM14.22.

On the most active list, Lotte Chemical jumped 13 sen to 47 sen, Velesto perked up one sen to 33 sen, Zetrix AI advanced half-a-sen to 78.5 sen, Pegasus Heights was flat at half-a-sen, and AirAsia X slid 14 sen to RM1.28.

Among the top gainers, Petronas Chemicals advanced 69 sen to RM4.20, MISC garnered 56 sen to RM8.80, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 30 sen to RM19.02, and PPB went up 18 sen to RM11.08.

As for the top losers, Nestle slipped 90 sen to RM107.20, Allianz Malaysia declined by 48 sen to RM20.90, Hong Leong Industries sank 38 sen to RM17.20, and Malayan Cement lost 28 sen to RM8.05.

On the index board, the FBMT100 Index put on 3.55 points to 12,358.44, the FBM Emas Index went up 0.31 of-a-point to 12,517.64, and the FBM70 Index tumbled 115.33 points to 17,072.15. 

The FBM Emas Shariah Index increased by 15.02 points to 12,188.77 and the FBM ACE Index fell 119.58 points to 4,376.88.     

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index decreased by 54.88 points to 20,797.88, the Plantation Index bagged 30.11 points to 8,217.01, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 3.02 points to 177.18, and the Energy Index gained 10.54 points to 795.48.  

-- BERNAMA