KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia maintained its positive momentum at midday, with the key index staying above the 1,600 mark, driven by continued buying interest in telecommunications and banking stocks.
At 12:30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 0.49 per cent or 7.82 points to 1,603.87, up from Friday's closing of 1,596.05.The broader market also stayed positive, with 611 gainers outpacing 361 losers.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said it continues to expect the construction, property, building materials, utilities, and technology sectors to benefit from the data centre catalyst and the artificial intelligence (AI) theme.
"Meanwhile, we favour the consumer, renewable energy, industrial products, and shipping sectors due to the stronger ringgit environment, and the Financial sector may be worth accumulating ahead of its results, given its decent dividend yield prospects," it said.
On the commodity markets, Brent oil hovered around US$80 as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East persisted, while gold prices gained traction, trading above US$2,420.
Meanwhile, the crude palm oil (CPO) price continued its downward trend, falling below RM3,800.