Bursa Malaysia remained in positive territory at midday on Sept 2, with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) up 1.07 points, or 0.06%, at 1,701.61, supported by selected banking stocks as investors await Bank Negara Malaysia’s Overnight Policy Rate decision on Sept 3.
The benchmark index moved between 1,695.89 and 1,705.13 during the morning session, after closing at 1,700.54 on Sept 1.
The broader market, however, was weaker, with the FBM 70 falling 139.01 points, or 0.78%, to 17,777.48, while the F4GBM slipped 1.07 points, or 0.1%, to 1,021.56.
The FBM Emas declined 18.65 points, or 0.15%, to 12,586.36, while the FBM Shariah eased 12.28 points, or 0.1%, to 12,379.70.
Market breadth was negative, with 750 losers outpacing 332 gainers, while 466 counters were unchanged, 1,224 untraded and 17 suspended.
Nestlé (M) Bhd was the biggest decliner, falling RM1.62 to RM97.08, followed by Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, which slipped 66 sen to RM39.60.
BLD Plantation Bhd fell 50 sen to RM14.50, Hong Leong Industries Bhd declined 34 sen to RM17.50, while Allianz Malaysia Bhd eased 28 sen to RM21.30.
United Plantations Bhd led the gainers, rising 48 sen to RM32.52, while Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd added 35 sen to RM2.88.
Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd gained 30 sen to RM4.37, Manulife Holdings Bhd rose 25 sen to RM2.57, while Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd advanced 24 sen to RM22.08.
On the other hand, Zetrix AI Bhd was the most actively traded stock, with 459.51 million shares changing hands. The counter fell 2.5 sen to 24 sen after trading between 22.5 sen and 26 sen.
Focus Dynamics Group Bhd rose half a sen to one sen on 73.89 million shares, while Ingenieur Gudang Bhd gained one sen to 4.5 sen on 60.7 million shares.
Velesto Energy Bhd climbed 1.5 sen to 24.5 sen on 48.44 million shares, while Ni Hsin Group Bhd gained two sen to 26 sen on 41.9 million shares.
Turnover stood at 2.47 billion units worth RM1.61 billion.
