FBM KLCI rises to 1,524.31 at midday as market eyes US-China trade talks
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session in positive territory amid cautious optimism in the market, as the wait continued for the outcome of the trade talks between the United States (US) and China.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 7.36 points to 1,524.31 from Tuesday's close of 1,516.95.
The benchmark index opened 3.91 points higher at 1,520.86 -- the lowest level so far in the day -- and increased as high as 1,530.85 during the session.
Gainers thumped losers 459 to 364 in the broader market, while a total of 474 counters were unchanged, 1,072 untraded and 11 suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.0 billion units valued at RM1.16 billion.
Public Bank Investment Bank Bhd said global stock markets were higher as talks between the world's two largest economies carried into a second day.
"Stocks have roared higher since dropping roughly 20 per cent below their record two months ago, after a series of tariff announcements shocked financial markets, which raised worries about a possible recession.
"Much of the rally has been due to hopes that Trump would lower his tariffs after reaching trade deals with countries around the world," it said in a note.
Among the heavyweights, CIMB was nine sen firmer at RM6.94, YTL Power and YTL Corporation added 11 sen each to RM3.62 and RM2.13, respectively, and Public Bank improved two sen to RM4.28, while CelcomDigi was flat at RM3.78.
The top gainers were led by Allianz which gained 30 sen to RM19.42, followed by Sunway Construction which rose 26 sen to RM6.23, and F&N and Batu Kawan which racked up 18 sen each to RM27.98 and RM19.18, respectively.
Among the most active stocks, MYEG advanced one sen to 96.0 sen, while TWL and Ta Win were flat at 2.5 sen and two sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index went up 43.27 points to 11,437.39, the FBMT 100 Index rose 44.49 points to 11,204.04, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 32.26 points to 11,401.48.
The FBM 70 Index expanded 27.66 points to 16,514.32 and the FBM ACE Index stepped up 4.44 points to 4,515.22.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased by 0.42 point to 152.33, the Plantation Index firmed 19.65 points to 7,229.68, and the Financial Services Index bagged 74.95 points to 17,769.26.
However, the Energy Index eased by 0.11 point to 723.42.
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