KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian stock market remained positive at midday as investors bolstered their portfolios ahead of the tabling of Budget 2025 on Friday.
Helping the trading sentiment was the record-breaking performance of the Dow Jones overnight, as outsized results from banks helped lift the outlook on corporate earnings.
At the lunch break, the FBM KLCI was up 4.93 points to 1,637.56 while the broader market was also positive with 528 gainers compared to 314 decliners.
Nearly all the broader market sectors were positive, led by financial services, property and plantations. The laggard sectors were consumer and telcos.
Over the early session, 1.53 billion shares changed hands for a value of RM1.03bil.
Among the blue chips, Maybank climbed eight sen to RM10.68, Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained six sen to RM21.10 and PETRONAS Chemicals added six sen to RM5.67.
Tenaga Nasional rose 12 sen to RM14.58, Sime Darby gained five sen to RM2.43 and QL Resources rose four sen to RM4.74.
Of actives, Aizo rose 0.5 sen to 15 sen, SMTrack was unchanged at two sen and SP Setia gained 10 sen to RM1.41.
Meanwhile, Asian markets were mostly higher although gains were pared from earlier in the day as China's announcement on housing policy disappointed investors.
In China, the composite index was up 0.1% to 3,205 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.86% to 20,460.
Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.65% to 38,927 and Singapore's Straits Times index gained 0.82% to 3,620.
