KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded at midday, supported by bargain hunting in selected heavyweights, led by the banking and energy counters.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.39 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 1,620.40 from Monday’s close of 1,618.01.
The benchmark index, which opened 1.39 points weaker at 1,616.62, moved between 1,611.17 and 1,621.32 throughout the morning trading session.
In the broader market, however, losers surpassed gainers 815 to 273, while 378 counters were unchanged, 1,360 untraded and 21 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.99 billion units worth RM1.49 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI rebounded following the announcement of Budget 2027, which was more positive than expected.
He said that although the market undertone remains cautious due to elevated crude oil prices, the local bourse is still ripe for bargain hunting activities.
“Thus, for today, we expect the index to trend in the 1,615-1,625 range,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a note, Apex Securities Bhd expects the FBM KLCI to trade cautiously with a slight positive bias, as continued optimism surrounding Budget 2027 and strength in selected index heavyweights provide support against a more challenging external backdrop.
“Elevated crude oil prices, rising global bond yields and renewed West Asia tensions should continue to cap valuations, particularly as expectations for further US monetary tightening remain in play.
“Nevertheless, Budget 2027 should provide a degree of domestic earnings visibility, particularly for sectors exposed to household spending and government development expenditure,” it said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank added nine sen to RM10.04, Public Bank rose three sen to RM4.69, CIMB jumped 14 sen to RM7.44, and IHH Healthcare increased nine sen to RM7.99, while Tenaga Nasional was four sen lower at RM13.
In active trade, JAKS Resources fell 1.5 sen to 15.5 sen, Zetrix AI dropped half a sen to 7.0 sen, and Dagang Nexchange decreased 3.0 sen to 48.5 sen, while Top Glove rose 2.5 sen to 84 sen, and VS Industry gained half a sen to 33 sen.
Of the top gainers, Kuala Lumpur Kepong jumped 20 sen to RM20.76 and Hengyuan Refining gained 13 sen to RM3.68, while Bursa Malaysia, RHB Bank and AMMB Holdings rose 12 sen to RM8.09, RM7.31, and RM6.27, respectively.
Malaysian Pacific Industries led the top decliners, falling RM2.04 to RM40.98. Nestle decreased RM1.02 to RM90.08 and MI Technovation lost 63 sen to RM6.39, while Vitrox Corporation and UMS Integration gave up 50 sen to RM10.74 and RM8.40, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index declined 172.04 points to 17,310.12, the FBM Emas Index decreased 26.66 points to 12,079.04, the FBM Top 100 Index gave up 17.46 points to 11,870.39, the FBM Emas Shariah Index narrowed 96.52 points to 12,034.55, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 109.00 points to 5,451.70.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index contracted 1.62 points to 179.15 and the Plantation Index weakened 16.88 points to 8,795.02, while the Energy Index gained 0.69 of point to 834.85, and the Financial Services Index spiked 172.43 points to 18,766.57.
-- BERNAMA