By Anas Abu Hassan
KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher, boosted by renewed buying interest in selected heavyweights in the banking and utilities sectors amid positive sentiment.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 17.07 points, or 1.13 per cent, to 1,529.22 from Friday’s close of 1,512.15.
The benchmark index opened 5.43 points firmer at 1,517.58 -- its lowest level so far today -- before rising as high as 1,531.63 during the morning session.
On the broader market, gainers thumped decliners 653 to 253, while 395 counters were unchanged, 1,123 untraded, and seven suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.83 billion shares worth RM1.22 billion.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said investors have temporarily shifted to bargain-hunting mode while remaining cautious amid global uncertainties.
"Global markets will open the week with a series of key data releases and policy events that could set the tone for global risk sentiment.
“With macroeconomic uncertainty still high, Monday’s data-heavy session could drive significant market swings, setting the stage for the week ahead,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose eight sen to RM10.40, Public Bank gained five sen to RM4.53, Tenaga Nasional surged 20 sen to RM13.60, CIMB jumped 19 sen to RM7.26 and IHH Healthcare was unchanged at RM7.10.
As for the active stocks, Sapura Energy was flat at five sen, Pertama Digital gained 4.5 sen to 10 sen, MYEG added two sen to 95 sen, and Saliran and NexG edged up one sen each to 23.5 sen and 26.5 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 135.22 points to 11,435.36, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 129.31 points to 11,199.14, the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 121.97 points to 11,111.55, the FBM 70 Index grew 205.95 points to 16,344.42, and the FBM ACE Index notched up 15.14 points to 4,692.82.
By sector, the Financial Services Index garnered 242.93 points to 18,765.75, the Industrial Products and Services Index strengthened 1.82 points to 155.55, the Energy Index gained 14.85 points to 733.58, and the Plantation Index put on 43.98 points to 7,413.73.
-- BERNAMA
