KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended its midday session mixed, as the key index stayed positive despite broader market falling into negative territory.
The key index was driven by gains in the financial services and plantations' sectors.
At 12:30 PM, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia climbed 0.16 per cent, increasing by 2.63 points to 1,617.05, up from its previous close of 1,614.42 on Tuesday.
Despite this, the broader market saw more decliners than advancers, with 564 losers compared to 380 gainers, and 505 counters remaining unchanged.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd suggested that investors might focus on opportunities related to data centre catalysts and the forthcoming announcement on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (KL-SG HSR) projects.
"We believe these catalysts would boost the appetite for more exposure within the Construction, Property, Building Material, and Utilities stocks."Also, we like the recovering trend within the Glove stocks, where it might have bottomed out over the past one year," it said in a note.
On the commodities front, Malacca Securities noted that Brent oil settled just under US$85 due to demand concerns, despite a drop in oil inventories last week.
Meanwhile, gold prices remained solidly above US$2,350. "However, the crude palm oil (CPO) has fallen 5-day consecutively and is trading below RM4,000," it said.