KUALA LUMPUR: Gains in banking stocks continued to support the key index on Bursa Malaysia to close the morning session on a firm note.
The FBM KLCI gained 2.49 points, or 0.15%, to reach 1,639.03, after hitting an intraday high of 1,640.42 in the morning.
Losers thumped gainers at 530 to 327 while 445 counters were unchanged. Turnover stood at 1.4 billion securities valued at RM1.1bil.
Maybank rose 10 sen to RM10.64, pushing the index higher by 1.7591 points, while Public Bank gained five sen to RM4.44, nudging the index up by 1.4148 points.
Hong Leong Bank gained 14 sen to RM21.24, CIMB climbed one sen to RM8.26 while RHB Bank traded unchanged at RM6.27.
Laggards among the FBM KLCI component stocks were PETRONAS Dagangan, MISC, YTL Power and YTL Corp.
On the broader market, Bintulu Port jumped 35 sen to RM6.50, Dutch Lady
added 30 sen to RM31.68, Oriental slid 10 sen to RM7.59 and Dayang declined 10 sen to RM14.32.
Northeast Group, which made its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia today, climbed 3.5 sen, or 7%, to 53.5 sen, with 130.71 million shares traded.
TA Securities said the local market is likely to continue sideways trading as investors cautiously await the tabling of Budget 2025 for clues on the economic direction and its impact on corporations.
“Immediate index support will be the recent correction low of 1,625, with 1,620 and then 1,600 acting as stronger supports. Immediate resistance is set at 1,660, followed by the recent highs of 1,675 and 1,684, and then 1,695, Dec 2020 high, as tougher resistance levels,” the research house said.
Malacca Securities expects traders to be selective ahead of Malaysia’s Budget 2025 announcement this Friday, with key focus areas likely to include the construction, property, building materials, and utilities sectors.
“We foresee heightened volatility in the consumer sector, as traders are speculating on subsidy cuts in the poultry segment. Also, the strengthening US dollar is likely to shift attention towards export-oriented sectors such as gloves and technology,” it said.
