BURSA MALAYSIA SURGES HIGHER BY MIDDAY

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session higher as global markets see a strong risk-on push following bullish US-China trade talks. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) surged by 2.04 per cent or 31.56 points to 1,578.06 from Friday’s close of 1,546.50. The benchmark index opened 14.89 points higher at 1,561.39.

Market breadth was positive, with 758 gainers outpacing 309 decliners, while 400 counters were unchanged, 916 untraded and eight suspended.

Turnover stood at 2.62 billion shares worth RM2.23 billion.

ActivTrades trader Anderson Alves said the US and China have agreed to a sweeping 115-percentage-point reduction in tariffs.

“Positive flows rotating into risk assets, cyclicals and technology sectors could lead to gains in Asia following strong performances on Wall Street,” he said in a note to Bernama.

He said attention now turns to today’s US Consumer Price Index (CPI) release.

While inflation data typically holds significant influence over markets, it is worth noting that the recent recalibration in US Federal Reserve rate-cut expectations leaves little room for further hawkish repricing.

“Even a hot CPI print may not push short-term rates much higher. It could stoke stagflation concerns, potentially weighing on rates in the near term while supporting the US dollar. 

“While that could hold the buying momentum, the sentiment remains positive around US-China talks,” he added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose 31 sen to RM10.20, Public Bank added six sen to RM4.50, and Tenaga Nasional gained eight sen to RM14.38, while MYDIY fell three sen to RM1.67.

In active trade, Inari increased 27 sen to RM2.21, MYEG and Harvest gained one sen each to 91.5 sen and 16 sen, while Tanco and Sapura were flat at 93 sen and 4.5 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 240.19 points higher at 11,760.23, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 241.85 points to 11,527.78, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 200.33 points to 11,676.09.

The FBM 70 Index gained 395.57 points to 16,709.27, and the FBM ACE Index bagged 30.51 points to 4,713.46.

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index soared 483.85 points to 18,539.14, the Energy Index gained 22.85 points to 716.29, and the Plantation Index increased 86.47 points to 7,332.90. The Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 3.57 points to 158.01.

-- BERNAMA