KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained higher at midday in sync with upbeat regional market performance.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 14.85 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 1,725.84 from yesterday’s close of 1,710.99.
The benchmark index opened 2.98 points higher at 1,713.97 and fluctuated between 1,713.42 and 1,726.60 in the morning session.
Market breadth was positive, with 530 gainers leading 394 losers. A total of 364 counters were unchanged, 1,446 untraded, and 11 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.68 billion units, valued at RM1.97 billion.
In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects the local market to continue to trend higher in view of the Wall Street rebound.
It also anticipates buying interest to re-emerge in IJM Corporation Bhd, following Permodalan Nasional Bhd’s rejection of Sunway Bhd’s offer to acquire IJM at RM3.15 per share.
It cited an intrinsic value gap, supported by IJM’s plan to list its construction and toll road businesses within the next two years and an unbilled order book of about RM9.6 billion, it said.
The brokerage firm also expects Sunway Healthcare Bhd, listed on the Main Market today, to attract buying interest and potentially to be included in the FBM KLCI.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained 12 sen to RM11.72, Public Bank edged up four sen to RM4.90, CIMB put on 10 sen to RM7.96, IHH Healthcare was 43 sen firmer at RM9.36, while Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.20.
On the most active list, Main Market debutant Sunway Healthcare increased 56 sen to RM2.01, Tanco gained three sen to RM1.39, AirAsia X edged up 11 sen to RM1.31, Zetrix AI went up half-a-sen to 79 sen, and Capital A rose two sen to 46 sen.
Of the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries was 48 sen higher at RM30.20, Hong Leong Bank and Fraser & Neave gained 44 sen each to RM23.24 and RM31.86, respectively. IHH Healthcare climbed 43 sen to RM9.36, and Sunway rose 30 sen to RM5.53.
As for the top losers, Nestle fell 80 sen to RM100.10, United Plantations was 62 sen lower at RM33.38, PPB Group lost 36 sen to RM11.04, Allianz Malaysia decreased 28 sen to RM21.28, and Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing decreased 18 sen to RM4.62.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index advanced 109.02 points to 12,438.20, the FBM Emas Index improved 104.53 points to 12,590.49, the FBM 70 Index jumped 160.35 points to 17,267.96, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 74.24 points to 12,260.23, and the FBM ACE Index perked up 25.54 points to 4,439.46.
By sector, the Financial Services Index surged 249.16 points to 20,886.70, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.54 points to 179.99, while the Plantation Index decreased 25.93 points to 8,542.55, and the Energy Index trimmed 9.14 points to 780.83.
-- BERNAMA
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