Bursa Malaysia ended the Friday morning trading session higher, driven by buying activity of cheap share units.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.89 points (0.18%) to 1,617.62 compared to Thursday's close of 1,614.73.
The barometer index opened 1.24 points higher at 1,615.97 and hovered between 1,622.49 to 1,615.97 throughout the session.
Broad market sentiment was negative as gainers outnumbered losers by 690 to 378, 461 counters unchanged, 854 untraded and 20 others suspended.
The turnover is worth 3.38 billion units which is worth RM2.13 billion.
In a statement from Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, the driving force behind the increase in local shares is due to the increase in data centers, artificial intelligence and cloud services themes in the Malaysian technology market.
They see the technology sector's earnings have declined and will reflect stronger price movements in the future.
Market participants will focus on digital tools, cyber security and electronic manufacturing services. Spillover effects on stocks in the construction, real estate and utilities sectors amid an increase in data centers from multinationals were also noted.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained 2.0 sen to RM10 and Tenaga Nasional rose 8.0 sen to RM13.78, while CIMB Group and IHH Healthcare rose 1.0 sen to RM6.96 and RM6.25 respectively.
Meanwhile, Public Bank lost 1.0 sen to RM4.12.
Among active stocks, JAKS Resources rose 3.0 sen to 16 sen, Jati Tinggi Group rose 8.0 sen to 43.5 sen, YNH Property added 12.0 sen to 60 sen, WCT Holdings rose 4.5 sen to 82 sen and Datasonic Group rose 1.5 sen to 56.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Gold Index jumped 48.02 points to 12,351.71, the FBMT 100 Index grew 40.49 points to 11,936.26, the FBM Gold Shariah Index jumped 71.18 points to 12,647.36, the FBM 70 Index added 137.88 points to 17,778.73 and the FBM ACE Index rose 47.31 points to 5,547.25.
In terms of sectors, the Financial Services Index increased by 9.79 points to 17,647.22, the Industrial Products and Services Index increased by 0.30 points to 197.54, the Energy Index increased by 2.07 points to 967.71, the Plantation Index increased by 31.28 points to 7,144.14, the Telecommunications and Media Index decreased by 0.84 points to 611.75.
