Kuala Lumpur stock exchange’s benchmark composite index advanced 6.09 points to 1,597.50 points, from last Friday’s close of 1,591.41 points.
Throughout the half-day session, the key index moved within a range of 9.33 points, from the low of 1,592.57 points to the high of 1,601.90 points.
This morning, the benchmark index opened 2.69 points higher to 1,594.10 points. In late morning, the index at one point traded up by 8.72 points to 1,600.13 points, and largely kept the upward momentum till midday, ending the half-day session at 1,597.50 points, after retreating slightly to add just 6.09 points.
The positive start for the week could spark trading activity, pushing the index up after the market suffered 17-point loss last week.
Sector-wise, the Construction Index at midday declined 1.50% to 300.68 points, followed by the Transportation & Logistics Index which shed 0.61% to 1,033.57 points, and the Property Index which decreased 0.43% to 1,084.36 points.
The Financial Services Index recorded the biggest sector surge of 0.80% at midday to reach 18,852.14 points, followed by the Technology Index whichadded 0.63% to 63.90 points.
At midday, Hong Leong Bank Bhd and Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd both added 12 sen to RM20.12 and RM18.02, respectively. AMMB Holdings Bhd (Ambank) rose 11 sen to RM5.43, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) surged eight sen to RM10.04, and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd increased six sen to RM8.01.
The Utilities Index, which rallied nearly 4% last week, did not show much movement during the half-day session as the index declined marginally by 0.19% to 1,755.32 points at midday. Nevertheless, market observers noted that utilities counters YTL Corporation Bhd and YTL Power International Bhd surged this morning as the KLCI was moving upward. At midday, YTL Corp shed two sen to RM2.56 after surging to the high of RM2.66 in earlier trading session. YTL Power also shed two sen to RM4.12 after trading up to the high of RM4.21 earlier.
The newly-listed (Dec 19) aluminium extrusion operator Winstar Capital Bhd was actively traded at midday, recording a volume of 24,567,000 shares/units, gaining four sen to RM0.545 which offered a 19.5-sen or 55.7% reward over its listing price of RM0.35.
Top Glove Corporation Bhd was also actively traded at midday, adding two sen to RM1.34, registering a turnover of 17,659,600 shares/units.
Main board’s technology listing UWC Bhd was among midday gainers. The UWC counter advanced 17 sen to RM3.27 on a volume of 2,708,200 shares/units at midday.
Construction firm Gamuda Bhd was a midday decliner, sliding 16 sen to RM4.62 on a volume of 13,831,200 shares/units.
United Plantations Bhd was the top decliner at midday, giving up RM1.30 to RM30.52 on a turnover of 347,500 shares/units. Last Friday, the plantation counter already slipped RM1.32 intraday, or almost 4%, to close at RM31.82.
At midday, decliners led gainers by 513 to 338, while 484 counters were unchanged.
The half-day turnover amounted to nearly 1.50 billion (1,499,961,800) shares/units valued at RM1.00 billion (1,001,768,083).
Notably, there will be no scheduled Initial Public Offering (IPO) for the balance of the year. In 2024, the Bursa made history by listing 55 IPOs on the exchange, the highest in 19 years since 2005. By comparison, the exchange listed 32 IPOs in 2023. The 55 IPOS collectively raised RM7.42 billion in proceeds. This year, a total of 11 IPOs were listed on the Main board, 40 on the ACE market and four on the LEAP market.
