KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained higher at midday, supported by buying interest in selected heavyweights, particularly in the telecommunications and media, utilities, and industrial products sectors.
The three counters collectively lifted the composite index by 5.31 points.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 2.41 points to 1,729.80 from last Friday’s close of 1,727.39.
The benchmark index opened 0.45 of a point higher at 1,726.94, and fluctuated between 1,722.16 and 1,731.45 during the morning trading session.
However, the broader market was negative, with losers outpaced gainers 550 to 454, while 559 counters were unchanged, 1,282 untraded and 27 suspended.
Turnover totalled 1.92 billion units worth RM1.29 billion.
Among the heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional gained two sen to RM14.50, but Maybank was two sen lower to RM10.58. Public Bank and IHH Healthcare inched down one sen each to RM5.12 and RM8.19, and CIMB Group declined nine sen to RM7.86.
On the most active list, JAKS Resources and Oppstar added 1.5 sen each to 12 sen and 75 sen, Dagang NeXchange was half a sen higher to 51 sen, while Zetrix AI eased one sen to 71 sen and NationGate Holdings edged down two sen to RM1.49.
Among top gainers, Fraser & Neave Holdings, PPB Group and Nestle improved by 20 sen to RM26.60, RM9.60 and RM102.90, respectively, while UMS Integration rose 19 sen to RM8.65 and HE Group added 12 sen to 86.5 sen.
As for the top losers, BLD Plantation erased 74 sen to RM14.26, Malaysian Pacific Industries reduced 32 sen to RM47.18, Kluang Rubber shed 15 sen to RM6.45, AMMB Holdings slipped 12 sen to RM7.23, and Kelington Group gave up 11 sen to RM8.59.
On the index board, the FBM ACE Index advanced 32.49 points to 5,327.27, and the FBM 70 Index increased 30.17 points to 18,323.36.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 53.39 points to 12,682.63, the FBM Emas Index rose 18.09 points to 12,833.53, and the FBM Top 100 Index garnered 18.45 points to 12,644.71.
By sector, the Plantation Index edged up 8.89 points to 9,336.30, and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 1.26 points to 188.49, but the Energy Index fell 1.61 points to 777.85, and the Financial Services Index lost 79.80 points to 20,256.22.
-- BERNAMA