{
  "id": 1651184,
  "title": "Bursa Malaysia stays higher at midday",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/bursa-malaysia-stays-higher-at-midday",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-18T05:50:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2026/08/1513671/bursa-malaysia-stays-higher-midday"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "At midday, Bursa Malaysia remained on an upward trajectory, buoyed by buying activity in specific sectors, including plantation, industrial products, services, and financial services. By 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index had climbed 2.71 points to 1,728.60, from Monday's closing figure of 1,725.89. The index opened 1.63 points higher at 1,727.52 and fluctuated between 1,723.60 and 1,729.38 throughout the morning's trading session. Despite this positive momentum, the broader market experienced a downturn, with more stocks falling than rising—619 losses versus 342 gains—and 520 counters remained unchanged. Overall turnover reached 1.96 billion units, equating to a trading volume of RM1.26 billion. Analysts at Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd forecast the FBM KLCI to remain within a tight range, as investors maintain caution due to ongoing external and domestic uncertainties and the absence of new catalysts. Among the key players, Maybank held steady at RM10.58, CIMB Group edged up three sen to RM7.90, Public Bank slipped one sen to RM5.09, Tenaga Nasional fell four sen to RM14.44, and IHH Healthcare declined six sen to RM8.08. Other notable gains came from SD Guthrie (+20 sen to RM6.73), Press Metal Aluminium (+14 sen to RM7.92), and RHB Bank (+10 sen to RM8.69). These three stocks collectively contributed 5.29 points to the composite index. Among the most actively traded stocks, JAKS Resources dipped half a sen to 13 sen, Zetrix AI fell 2.5 sen to 66.5 sen, Dataprep rose half a sen to 9.5 sen, and HHRG increased half a sen to 13.5 sen. Luster Industries remained unchanged at three sen. Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries surged 78 sen to RM47.78, Mi Technovation gained 51 sen to RM6.40, Nestle rose 40 sen to RM103.40, Kelington increased 39 sen to RM8.93, and Bus Cap climbed 14.5 sen to 52.5 sen. Conversely, the top losers included United Plantations which fell 36 sen to RM32.64, Kuala Lumpur Kepong and Hong Leong Bank both dropped 24 sen each to RM21.32 and RM22.50, respectively. Petronas Dagangan and Fraser & Neave also saw declines of 14 sen each to RM19.32 and RM26.20, respectively. In terms of sectoral performance, the Plantation Index surged 58.25 points to 9,371.87, while the Industrial Products and Services Index climbed 0.94 points to 188.91. The Energy Index dipped 0.83 points to 776.79, and the Financial Services Index decreased 10.21 points to 20,239.50.",
  "summary": "KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained positive at midday, supported by buying interest in selected heavyweights, particularly in the plantation, industrial products and services, as well as financial services sectors.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}