KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI closed above the 1,700-point psychological level on Tuesday, as improving risk appetite and largely positive regional cues lifted sentiment, pushing the benchmark to a multi-year high.
At 5 pm, the FBM KLCI rose 12.76 points, or 0.75%, to 1,708.20, marking its intraday high and highest level since February 2019, driven by a rally in banking stocks.
Gainers and decliners were closely balanced, with 556 gainers against 548 losers and 559 that were flat. About 3.45 billion shares, valued at RM3.55bil, changed hands.
Dealers said buying interest was largely concentrated in banking and selected blue-chip counters, supported by improved risk appetite amid firmer regional cues.
However, they noted that market breadth remained mixed, reflecting continued investor selectivity.
Among the gainers, Hong Leong Industries rose 34 sen to RM17, Batu Kawan added 22 sen to RM20.30, Tenaga Nasional gained 20 sen to RM13.80 and Spritzer climbed 20 sen to RM3.02.
On the other hand, United Plantations slid RM1 to RM34, F&N fell 66 sen to RM36, PETRONAS Dagangan lost 48 sen to RM20.20 and Heineken declined 30 sen to RM22.98.
ACE Market debutant Semico surged 50%, or 12.5 sen, to 37.5 sen, emerging as the second most active counter on Bursa Malaysia with 132 million shares traded.
Among the banks, Maybank rose 12 sen to RM11.06, CIMB jumped 17 sen to RM8.38, while Public Bank gained five sen to RM4.64.
RHB Bank
added 15 sen to RM8.05, AmBank rose eight sen to RM6.55, and Hong Leong Bank climbed two sen to RM23.32.
In terms of fund flows, foreign investors and local institutions were net buyers on Monday, with net purchases of RM29mil and RM19mil, respectively. Local retailers emerged as net sellers, with net sales totalling RM48mil.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan rose 0.43%.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 3.1% to 53,549.16, while South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.47% to a record high of 4,692.64.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.9% to 26,848.47, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.8% to 4,807.13.
In contrast, China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6% each to 4,761.03 and 4,138.76, respectively.
