KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): Bursa Malaysia’s equities opened higher on Friday, echoing the overnight strong performance of US equities, despite a widespread hacking incident affecting Malaysian stock trading accounts the day prior.

The stocks affected by the hacking incident on Thursday (April 24) included Bina Puri Holdings Bhd (KL:BPURI), which plunged more than 42% to an intraday low of 21.5 sen on heavy trading, emerging as one of the top losers on Friday.

Others affected were Bina Puri’s warrant B, shares of Pos Malaysia Bhd (KL:POS), as well as certain Hong Kong structured warrants.

At the Friday opening bell, benchmark index KLCI opened 5.12 points higher at 1511.64, mirroring the US market rally that was fuelled by increased optimism over possible earlier interest rate reductions by the US Federal Reserve and better earnings from Alphabet Inc.

Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei also saw a positive open, gaining 348.52 points to reach 35,387.67, while KOSPI edged up to 2,544.59 and the Hang Seng Index inched up to 22,080.44.

This regional optimism followed a significant 2% surge in the S&P 500 the previous day, marking its highest point since the initiation of Trump’s tariff measures.

At home, top government officials are reassessing the nation’s economic growth forecast due to the impact of tariffs.

They are also preparing for trade negotiations with US officials this week, aiming for an equitable agreement. 

Malaysia’s Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said the government is reviewing its initial growth projection of 4.5% to 5.5% for 2025, after the recent imposition of US levies, which has generated uncertainty for both investment and trade.  

At the midday break on Friday, the KLCI advanced 0.42 points, or 0.03%, to 1,506.94.

Bina Puri shares declined 32% to 25.5 sen, with nearly 49 million shares traded. Bina Puri-Warrant B also plunged over 61% to 18.5 sen.

Pos Malaysia, meanwhile, saw its shares fall 6.9% to 27 sen, with 11.6 million shares changing hands.

Five Hong Kong structured warrants were among the most actively traded on Friday, with Hang Seng (HSI-PWFQ) topping the list, down two sen or 18.2% to nine sen.

A source within the stockbroking industry revealed that the hacking incident primarily originated from overseas, as indicated by the IP addresses involved. The affected accounts were mostly those lacking pre-authorised internet trading access, meaning trades for these accounts are typically carried out through brokerage firms, rather than directly by investors. 

The breach appears to have targeted the systems of brokerage firms themselves, rather than compromising individual investors’ login credentials.  

Notably, the source also pointed out a similar but smaller-scale incident that occurred roughly six weeks earlier, suggesting it may have been a test run ahead of the larger, more coordinated attack. 

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