Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia reversed previous losses to continue its upward momentum, closing higher on Thursday. The gains were driven by persistent buying in selected heavyweights amid mixed sentiment in regional markets.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 4.66 points, or 0.29 percent, to settle at 1,592.87, up from Wednesday's closing of 1,588.21. The benchmark index opened 3.71 points higher at 1,591.92 and fluctuated between 1,589.88 and 1,596.02 throughout the trading day.
Despite the positive close, the broader market experienced a slight downturn, with decliners outnumbering advancers 522 to 513. Meanwhile, 491 counters remained unchanged, 1,068 were untraded, and 17 were suspended. Turnover increased to 2.67 billion units worth RM2.87 billion, compared to 2.55 billion units worth RM2.50 billion on Wednesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, noted that major Asian indices also ended higher despite negative cues from Wall Street, which saw significant selling in technology stocks. On the local bourse, the FBM KLCI continues to show encouraging momentum, reflecting improving sentiment and renewed investor confidence. Optimism is growing as the index approaches the key 1,600 psychological level, suggesting potential for further gains.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional saw a decrease of 2.0 sen each, to RM9.78 and RM13.64, respectively. Public Bank fell by 1.0 sen to RM4.45, IHH Healthcare decreased by 7.0 sen to RM6.81, while CIMB increased by 9.0 sen to RM7.45. Notably active counters included Tanco, which added 1.0 sen to 74 sen, Petronas Chemicals, which rose 58 sen to RM4.76, NexG, increasing by 6.0 sen to 45 sen, and Lotte Chemical, advancing by 2.5 sen to 59 sen.
In terms of indices, the FBM Emas Index increased by 18.08 points to 11,800.91, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 14.13 points to 11,582.43, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved by 18.59 points to 11,717.93. Conversely, the FBM 70 Index fell by 67.24 points to 16,536.22, while the FBM ACE Index added 12.41 points to 4,708.33.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 19.01 points to 18,184.15, the Plantation Index increased by 13.92 points to 7,606.52, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose by 2.94 points to 163.67, and the Energy Index ticked up by 1.44 points to 750.73.
The Main Market volume advanced to 1.55 billion units valued at RM2.65 billion from Wednesday's 1.46 billion units valued at RM2.28 billion. Warrants turnover declined to 688.24 million units worth RM86.01 million from 780.41 million units worth RM93.66 million previously. Meanwhile, the ACE Market volume increased to 424.96 million units worth RM132.02 million from 310.20 million units worth RM124.67 million on the previous day.