At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 4.28 points to 1,750.59 from Wednesday’s close of 1,746.31. The benchmark index opened 2.79 points higher at 1,749.10.
On the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners 216 to 133, while 310 counters were unchanged, 2,088 untraded and 27 suspended.
Turnover stood at 150.10 million shares valued at RM72.86 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said investor sentiment remained focused on US president Donald Trump’s ongoing state visit to China despite mixed trading on Wall Street overnight.
The brokerage expects the FBM KLCI to adopt a wait-and-see approach pending greater clarity from the visit.
“Although the technology sector remains resilient, supported by the influence of US technology giants visiting China and the recent strategic partnership involving ARM Holdings, we advise traders to wait for a pullback entry opportunity or consider taking partial profits, as most Bursa-listed technology stocks are currently overbought,” it said in a note.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank gained six sen to RM11.24, Public Bank added two sen to RM4.90, CIMB rose three sen to RM7.95, while Tenaga Nasional was unchanged at RM14.72 and IHH Healthcare slipped four sen to RM8.95.
Among active stocks, NationGate advanced seven sen to 86 sen, while GIBB Holdings and Dnonce Technology gained half-a-sen each to 27.5 sen and 4.5 sen, respectively. Euro Holdings and Zetrix AI were unchanged at 8.5 sen and 83.5 sen, while Pharmaniaga fell half-a-sen to 24.5 sen.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which climbed 58 sen to RM44.38, while UMS Integration and PTT Synergy gained 11 sen each to RM8.91 and RM1.78, respectively. Unisem rose nine sen to RM3.99, while SD Guthrie and VSTECS added eight sen each to RM6.08 and RM5.55, respectively.
Among top losers, Petronas Dagangan declined 34 sen to RM20.76, while Gamuda and Sunway Construction fell five sen each to RM4.60 and RM7.15, respectively. Petronas Chemicals slipped four sen to RM5.44.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 28.96 points to 12,965.20, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 28.85 points to 12,803.06, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 17.92 points to 12,885.97, and the FBM Mid 70 Index advanced 31.36 points to 18,580.17. The FBM ACE Index, however, eased 4.96 points to 4,747.23.
By sector, the Financial Services Index climbed 66.23 points to 20,368.29, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.69 of-a-point to 1,200.42, the Energy Index gained 1.02 points to 806.96, and the Plantation Index rose 21.92 points to 8,741.17.