Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia's key index closed at an intraday high, bolstered by sustained buying interest despite the pressures of renewed geopolitical tensions and a weaker lead from Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve's decision to maintain interest rates.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Federal Reserve has opted to keep rates steady for the fifth time in a row, with the Federal Funds Rate unchanged between 3.50 percent and 3.75 percent. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.84 points to 1,720.40 from the previous close of 1,715.56. The benchmark index, which opened 1.14 points lower at 1,714.42, reached its lowest level of 1,710.69 in early trade before gaining momentum throughout the day.
However, the broader market was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 581 to 411, and 612 counters remaining unchanged, 1,173 untraded, and 87 suspended. Turnover declined to 2.49 billion units valued at RM2.25 billion from 2.96 billion units valued at RM2.48 billion on Wednesday.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd's director of investment strategy and country economist, Mohd Sedek Jantan, noted that the FBM KLCI closed higher as investors shifted focus to consumer and plantation stocks despite the weaker sentiment from US Wall Street. He explained that the local market diverged from regional peers, with selective buying in defensive and commodity-linked sectors supporting the benchmark index.
Nonetheless, Mohd Sedek Jantan highlighted that investor sentiment remained cautious following the rebound in crude oil prices, driven by renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran. This has reignited concerns over potential supply disruptions and broader geopolitical risks. He warned that while the domestic market showed resilience, escalating tensions in West Asia continue to cloud the near-term outlook and could keep volatility elevated across regional equities.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank, Tenaga Nasional, and CIMB each added two sen to RM10.88, RM14.62, and RM7.83 respectively, while Public Bank inched up one sen to RM5.16, and IHH Healthcare remained unchanged at RM8.35. Active stocks saw Zetrix AI increase by one sen to 71.5 sen, Steel Hawk gain 1.5 sen to 23 sen, while VS Industry dropped 1.5 sen to 22 sen, and HHRG and Tanco Holdings both fell one sen to 12.5 sen and 24.5 sen respectively.
Top gainers included Nestle, which advanced RM2.72 to RM99.50, Fraser and Neave Holdings, which rose 60 sen to RM28.00, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong, which increased 44 sen to RM21.20. Conversely, Malaysian Pacific Industries led the losers list, falling RM1.12 to RM43.00, with United Plantations losing 30 sen to RM33.70 and Ideal Capital sinking 20 sen to RM3.80.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 21.52 points to 12,694.33, and the FBM Top 100 Index rose 24.14 points to 12,531.31. The FBM Mid 70 Index erased 12.84 points to 17,968.79, the FBM Emas Shariah Index expanded 25.12 points to 12,530.49, and the FBM ACE Index eased 1.94 points to 4,922.77.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 36.84 points to 20,253.81, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.67 of a point to 187, the Plantation Index increased 25.14 points to 9,327.06, and the Energy Index improved 0.38 of a point to 764.06. The Main Market volume declined to 1.19 billion units valued at RM1.98 billion compared to 1.32 billion units valued at RM2.16 billion on Wednesday.
Warrants turnover slipped to 863.66 million units worth RM122.51 million versus 1.16 billion units worth RM148.38 million previously. The ACE Market volume decreased to 425.20 million units valued at RM153.01 million from 478.75 million units valued at RM173.06 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 141.57 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (226.37 million), construction (71.27 million), technology (235.46 million), financial services (75.58 million), property (171.89 million), plantation (24.38 million), real estate investment trusts (14.57 million), closed-end fund (173,100), energy (79.44 million), healthcare (66.37 million), telecommunications and media (24.80 million), transportation and logistics (37.34 million), utilities (23.78 million), and business trusts (300).