Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia extended its rally to close more than one percent higher on Tuesday, buoyed by strong buying interest in oil and gas as well as banking sectors. Investors positioned themselves for potentially firmer energy prices following renewed hostilities between the United States and Iran. At the close of the trading day, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) surged 21.50 points, or 1.26 percent, to reach an intraday high of 1,719.94, up from Monday's close of 1,698.44.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the benchmark index opened 1.25 points higher at 1,699.69 and initially dipped to an intraday low of 1,698.21 during the early session. On the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers at 548 to 538, while 585 counters remained unchanged, 1,031 were untraded, and 22 were suspended. Turnover expanded significantly to 3.52 billion units valued at RM2.75 billion, up from 3.09 billion units valued at RM2.23 billion on Monday.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan noted that escalating tensions in West Asia, combined with concerns over potential disruptions to oil supply, bolstered energy-related counters and helped sustain positive momentum on Bursa Malaysia. Across the region, Asian equities ended mixed as markets balanced geopolitical risks against expectations for the global monetary policy outlook. Mohd Sedek stated, "Bursa Malaysia continued to outperform on the back of its defensive sector composition and strength in commodity-linked stocks."
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose six sen to RM11.00, Public Bank added 13 sen to RM5.05, Tenaga Nasional gained 10 sen to RM14.40, and CIMB increased by eight sen to RM7.77, while IHH Healthcare decreased by two sen to RM8.45. As for the active stocks, Tanco increased by 7.5 sen to 31.5 sen, HHRG went up 3.5 sen to 15 sen, Nationgate climbed seven sen to 95.5 sen, while Velesto fell 1.5 sen to 27 sen and Vinvest Capital lost one sen to two sen.
Among the top gainers, Petronas Chemicals jumped 44 sen to RM4.79, Petronas Gas rose by 42 sen to RM17.88, and Hong Leong Bank gained 36 sen to RM22.24. Both Fraser and Neave and Press Metal saw increases of 34 sen, reaching RM29.28 and RM8.19, respectively. Conversely, Nestle led the list of losers, dropping RM1.22 to RM90.50, United Plantations fell 48 sen to RM34.54, Allianz declined 32 sen to RM20.64, Chin Well decreased by 13.5 sen to 68.5 sen, while Frontken and Sunway Construction each slipped 10 sen to RM4.74 and RM7.50, respectively.
The broader indices reflected the positive movement, with the FBM Emas Index soaring 107.97 points to 12,661.93, the FBMT 100 Index jumping 112.06 points to 12,498.66, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increasing by 94.65 points to 12,492.04. However, the FBM 70 Index weakened by 29.34 points to 17,797.02, and the FBM ACE Index slipped 2.95 points to 4,862.06.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 219.43 points to 20,239.50, the Industrial Products and Services Index climbed 4.99 points to 188.51, and the Energy Index added 0.36 of a point to 773.65, while the Plantation Index declined by 19.10 points to 9,368.42. The Main Market volume expanded to 1.84 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion, compared with 1.56 billion units valued at RM1.96 billion previously.
Warrants turnover improved to 1.12 billion units worth RM135.26 million from 1.07 billion units worth RM131.26 million previously. The ACE Market volume swelled to 557.33 million units valued at RM162.70 million, up from 462.71 million units valued at RM143.73 million yesterday. Consumer products and services counters accounted for 159.71 million shares traded on the Main Market, with significant activity in industrial products and services (296.57 million), technology (227.31 million), and property (504.56 million), among others.