Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia's benchmark index reversed earlier losses to end at an intraday high today, buoyed by mild bargain hunting in several key index heavyweights. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased by 5.31 points to 1,608.0, up from Wednesday's close of 1,602.69.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the market barometer opened 1.43 points lower at 1,601.26 but gained momentum in the afternoon session, closing in positive territory. Despite this, the broader market was negative, with 589 decliners surpassing 470 gainers. Additionally, 486 counters were unchanged, 1,151 untraded, and eight suspended. Turnover rose to 3.44 billion units valued at RM2.66 billion, compared to 3.41 billion units valued at RM2.34 billion on Wednesday.
Berjaya Research Sdn Bhd's head of research, Kenneth Leong, mentioned that market sentiment is likely to remain cautious in the near term as investors await the release of the US inflation print on Friday. This could provide further insights into the Federal Reserve's policy direction. Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, noted that the market's upside is limited due to reports of escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, causing investors to hesitate in taking longer positions.
Thong further explained that the benchmark index is well-supported around the 1,600 level. The stockbroking firm has maintained a cautious outlook given the prevailing macroeconomic uncertainties, acknowledging that investor sentiment is likely to remain fragile. "Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,600-1,615 range towards the weekend," he said.
Among heavyweight counters, CIMB increased by 13 sen to RM7.33, Press Metal rose seven sen to RM6.20, MISC was up 16 sen at RM7.51, while Public Bank remained flat at RM4.21 and Maxis dropped one sen to RM3.80. On the most active list, newly listed THMY surged 60 sen to 91 sen, while Tanco and Zetrix AI gained half-a-sen each to 88 sen and 85.5 sen, respectively. Perak Transit fell half-a-sen to 33 sen, and Genting Malaysia was one sen weaker at RM2.33.
Top gainers included Dutch Lady, which climbed 24 sen to RM26.44, while PPB and Petronas Dagangan each added 20 sen to RM11.10 and RM22.44, respectively. Telekom Malaysia also advanced 19 sen to RM7.41. Among the top decliners, Nestle fell 30 sen to RM108.0, Petronas Gas slipped 20 sen to RM18.54, and both Malaysian Pacific Industries and Kuala Lumpur Kepong dropped 18 sen to RM29.70 and RM20.54, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased by 30.83 points to 12,031.03, the FBMT 100 Index gained 31.08 points to 11,766.93, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 15.73 points to 12,114.25. The FBM 70 Index went up by 11.61 points to 17,125.81, while the FBM ACE Index fell by 44.86 points to 5,245.40.
In sectoral performance, the Financial Services Index jumped 77.02 points to 18,145.26, the Industrial Products and Services Index grew by 0.93 of-a-point to 171.29, the Energy Index edged up by 0.34 of-a-point to 785.74, and the Plantation Index added 9.93 points to 7,917.75.
The Main Market volume increased to 1.90 billion units valued at RM2.27 billion, up from 1.76 billion units valued at RM2.02 billion on Wednesday. Warrants turnover decreased to 1.0 billion units worth RM120.24 million, compared with 1.16 billion units worth RM140.62 million the previous day. The ACE Market volume expanded to 544.53 million units valued at RM268.54 million, up from 482.47 million units valued at RM168.77 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 729.56 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services with 291.62 million, construction with 92.69 million, and technology with 189.06 million shares traded. Other sectors included financial services (63.06 million), property (198.87 million), plantation (27.10 million), and several others with varied volumes.