KUALA LUMPUR (April 22): Bursa Malaysia has maintained its positive tone at midday on Monday, in tandem with the upbeat performance of regional bourses. 

At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.95 points, or 0.64% to 1,557.52 from last Friday's close of 1,547.57. The benchmark index opened one point firmer at 1,548.57.

On the broader market, gainers surpassed decliners 656 to 320, while 377 counters were unchanged, 1,020 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to two billion units worth RM1.24 billion.  

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said traders will be focusing on several key events, noting that the US' gross domestic product is due on Friday, and several major corporate earnings reports like Tesla, Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet will be released this week.

"We think investors may be focusing on the defensive sector such as utilities and consumers. We also favour selected stocks within the automotive and shipping sectors," it said.

Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd believes that the KLCI could consolidate further until a decisive breakout above 1,558-1,565 hurdles.

This is as investors take into account heightened geopolitical tensions, a shift in the US Federal Reserve’s rate cut policy, the ongoing US first quarter of 2024 (1Q 2024) results season, ringgit weakness, as well as potential earnings disappointment from the local 1Q 2024 results season, it said. 

Among the heavyweights, Maybank Bhd added 10 sen to RM9.75, Public Bank Bhd rose four sen to RM4.19, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gained five sen to RM6.61 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd improved six sen to RM11.66, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd eased a sen to RM6.82. 

As for the actives, Keyfield International Bhd rallied 96 sen to RM1.86, Bina Puri Holdings Bhd inched down half a sen to 7.5 sen, Pan Malaysia Holdings Bhd was two sen higher at 23 sen and Ancom Logistics Bhd expanded 3.5 sen to 21.5 sen, while Ingenieur Gudang Bhd was flat at 14.0 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index advanced 75.11 points to 11,671.18, the FBM 70 Index climbed 91.79 points to 16,150.18, the FBMT 100 Index jumped 70.25 points to 11,318.2, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 62.17 points better at 11,832.04 and the FBM ACE Index ticked up 46.12 points to 4,905.1. 

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index picked up 0.66 of a point to 185.15, the Financial Services Index soared 140.21 points to 17,258.99, the Energy Index went up 6.48 points to 975.67 and the Plantation Index garnered 44.31 points to 7,419.96.