Bursa rises as Maybank leads buying in heavyweight counters

Bursa Malaysia commenced trading marginally higher on Tuesday, buoyed by significant buying activity in major stocks, primarily driven by Maybank. Despite growing apprehensions about geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 1.83 points, reaching 1,727.72 from Monday’s close of 1,725.89.

The index opened 1.63 points higher at 1,727.52. Maybank accounted for 13.18 points to the index's rise. However, market breadth was negative, with 216 stocks falling compared to 177 gainers, while 351 remained unchanged, 2,107 were untraded, and 16 were suspended. The overall turnover was 257.53 million shares, valued at RM135.41 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's note emphasized cautious market sentiment entering the pivotal quarter's earnings reporting season. They projected the index to stay between 1,720 and 1,735. Notable movements included Maybank at RM10.60, IHH Healthcare at RM8.15, Public Bank and CIMB Group at RM5.09 and RM7.86, respectively, and Tenaga Nasional at RM14.44.

Among the top gainers were Fraser & Neave Holdings at RM26.64, Kelington at RM8.71, Kuala Lumpur Kepong at RM21.70, Scicom (MSC) and Hengyuan Refining at RM2.27 and RM1.95, respectively. The top losers were United Plantations at RM32.78, Skyechip at RM3.11, Hong Leong Bank at RM22.68, and Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing and LPI Capital at RM3.42 and RM14.88, respectively.

The Plantation Index surged 27.39 points to 9,341.01, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 0.50 point to 188.47, and the Energy Index went up 4.11 points to 781.73. Conversely, the Financial Services Index dropped 2.85 points to 20,246.86.