KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 17): Icon Offshore Bhd's share price hit limit up today after surging as much as 30 sen or 127.66% in morning trades following Bursa Malaysia’s decision to uplift the offshore support vessel provider's designated securities status today.

The designated securities status was intended to mitigate excessive speculation observed in the trading of Icon securities, according to Bursa.

At 10:51am today, Icon shares were traded at 53.5 sen with 4.79 million units transacted. The counter was among Bursa top gainers.

In a statement on Friday (Feb 14), Bursa said it had decided to uplift Icon's designated securities status from 9am today.

“The securities of Icon will be traded as normal on a ready basis where delivery and settlement of trades will be conducted in accordance with the T+2 settlement cycle," Bursa said.

On Jan 24 this year, Bursa said in a statement that it declared the securities of Icon as designated counters with effect from Jan 28 until further notice.

The bourse regulator said the decision to designate the Icon securities was "due to excessive speculation observed in the trading of the securities and has been taken in the interest of ensuring a fair and orderly market. With the designation, trading in the counters will require payment upfront before buying and a free balance of securities before selling."

"Investors are advised that their investment decisions should be made on an informed basis, including an assessment of the fundamentals of the company," Bursa said then.