KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI eked out a slight gain at midday amid thin holiday trading across the region.
The 30-stock index gained a negligible 0.02 of-a-point to 1,648.93 at lunch break. The index hit an intra-morning high of 1,652.02.
Gainers on Bursa Malaysia significantly outnumbered decliners 536 to 357, as investors seized bargain opportunities.
The market turnover was 1.54 billion shares crossing hands for RM1.05bil.
Malaysian Pacific Industries
, the top gainer on Bursa Malaysia, jumped 58 sen to RM27.18. PETRONAS Dagangan added 34 sen to RM18.20, Panasonic Manufacturing gained 30 sen to RM18.50 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 22 sen to RM20.76.
Conversely, Nestle slid RM1 to RM103, Hong Leong Bank fell 26 sen to RM21.60, Gamuda lost 18 sen to RM7.90 and United Plantations declined 18 sen to RM7.90.
Of actives, DNeX rose 4.5 sen to 38 sen with 102.9 million shares traded while 99 Speed Mart gained five sen to RM2.28 with 34.9 shares done.
Malacca Securities expects market activity to slow down as China heads into the Golden Week holiday.
“As the US dollar/ringgit pair trades in the RM4.10–4.12/USD range,
export-oriented sectors like gloves and technology may see limited upside, while domestic-driven consumer stocks should benefit.
“Also, we favour the construction, property, building materials, and utilities sectors in anticipation of catalysts such as the upcoming Budget 2025 and potential news surrounding the KL-SG HSR project,” it said.
Meanwhile, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan was 0.13% lower at 620.05 on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei added 1.96% to 38,662.92.
Markets in China, Seoul and Hong Kong were closed due to public holidays.
