KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) lit up the trading floor earlier today, staging a sharp rally to close at its highest level in nearly eight months.

The stock climbed 10.89 per cent, or 5.5 sen, to end the day at 56 sen, as a wave of late-morning and post-lunch buying sent trading volumes surging.

Opening slightly firmer at 51 sen, up half a sen from the previous close of 50.5 sen, MRCB traded quietly for much of the morning until buying interest picked up just before 11am.

Heavy buying interest pushed the stock from 51.5 sen to 54.5 sen by the midday break, a three sen rise or 5.94 per cent gain in under two hours.

But it was after trading resumed at 2.30pm that the rally kicked into high gear. MRCB jumped five sen to 55.5 sen almost instantly, as volume surged to a session-high of 5.49 million shares.

Within the next 20 minutes, the government-linked stock climbed to an intraday peak of 56.5 sen, up six sen or 11.88 per cent.

By market close, turnover reached 45.5 million shares, marking the counter's busiest trading day in more than 10 months, despite no fresh news from the company.

MRCB's most recent headline was nearly two months ago when it secured a RM2.94 billion contract to redevelop Kompleks Sukan Shah Alam, one of the largest infrastructure awards of the year.

The group's largest shareholder is the Employees Provident Fund, which holds a 36.21 per cent stake, followed by Gapurna Sdn Bhd with a 15.48 per cent equity interest.

Gapurna is controlled by Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din who also serves as MRCB's executive vice chairman. His son Datuk Imran Salim MRCB group managing director.

Other institutional investors with meaningful stakes include Lembaga Tabung Haji, which holds 5.35 per cent and Kumpulan Wang Persaraan with 3.85 per cent.