Kuala lumpur: Late bargain hunting in selected heavyweights, predominantly within financial counters, has propelled Bursa Malaysia to close marginally higher. At the close of trading, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) saw a slight increase of 0.72 of a point, or 0.04 percent, reaching 1,752.83, compared to the previous day's close of 1,752.11.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the benchmark index opened with a modest rise of 0.68 of-a-point at 1,752.79 and fluctuated between 1,746.08 and 1,754.20 throughout the trading session. Despite the gains in the index, the broader market exhibited a negative trend with 702 losers surpassing 380 gainers, while 519 counters remained unchanged, 1,157 counters were untraded, and 24 were suspended.

Turnover slightly decreased to 2.03 billion units valued at RM2.20 billion, a slight drop from Thursday's 2.04 billion units worth RM2.52 billion. IPPFA Sdn Bhd's director of investment strategy and country economist, Mohd Sedek Jantan, commented that the early weakness of the benchmark index was primarily due to profit-taking following a 0.62 percent gain the previous day, coupled with a softer risk tone amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

On a sectoral level, financial counters emerged as leaders among the gainers, while the consumer products and services sector exerted downward pressure due to profit-taking and a more defensive market stance. From a flow perspective, foreign investors have shown renewed interest, becoming net buyers, which signifies a sustained global interest in Malaysian equities despite the subdued trading activity, Mohd Sedek noted.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank saw an increase of 16 sen to RM12.22, while Public Bank lost three sen to RM5.03. CIMB rose by two sen to RM8.49, whereas Tenaga Nasional dropped 10 sen to RM14.16, and IHH Healthcare fell by seven sen to RM8.84.

In the list of most active stocks, Astro Malaysia climbed 2.5 sen to 10 sen. Zetrix AI dropped two sen to 83.5 sen, while Tanco advanced two sen to RM1.46. Bina Puri and Velesto remained unchanged at 30 sen and 31.5 sen, respectively.

Additionally, top gainers included Nestle, which increased by 20 sen to RM109.70. Fraser and Neave added 18 sen to RM33.14, Chin Teck Plantations rose by 16 sen to RM10.72, and Keyfield International advanced 13 sen to RM1.62. Conversely, leading decliners were PPB, shedding 24 sen to RM10.86, and Malaysian Pacific Industries, which decreased by 20 sen to RM30.58. KSL Holdings narrowed by 19 sen to RM3.31, Hong Leong Bank fell 18 sen to RM24, and Atlan Holdings tumbled by 13 sen to RM2.62.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index fell by 10.58 points to 12,667.89, while the FBM Emas Index dropped 13.69 points to 12,846.78. The FBM Mid 70 Index narrowed by 86.10 points to 17,745.70, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 35.50 points to 12,368.29, and the FBM ACE Index eased by 6.39 points to 4,822.12.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index edged up 50.57 points to 21,615.67, the Plantation Index rose by 17.67 points to 8,419.98, and the Energy Index increased by 1.77 points to 775.88. Conversely, the Industrial Products and Services Index was slightly lower by 0.44 of a point at 178.06.

The Main Market volume declined to 1.27 billion units valued at RM2.04 billion from 1.35 billion units worth RM2.37 billion on Thursday. Warrant turnover expanded to 514.93 million units valued at RM62.36 million, up from 467.07 million units worth RM53.90 million previously. The ACE Market volume increased to 248.54 million units valued at RM95.89 million, compared to 227.62 million units valued at RM97.82 million yesterday.

In terms of sectoral trading, consumer products and services counters accounted for 174.75 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services with 176.47 million, construction with 104.18 million, and technology with 182.29 million. Other sectors included financial services with 82.22 million, property with 138.80 million, plantation with 16.84 million, real estate investment trusts with 17.97 million, energy with 111.16 million, healthcare with 56.81 million, telecommunications and media with 152.90 million, transportation and logistics with 22.68 million, utilities with 30.12 million, and business trusts with 14,000 shares.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency