KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI finished higher on Monday, even as renewed U.S.-Iran tensions and fading hopes for a Middle East peace deal kept investors cautious.
The 30-stock index climbed 7.09 points, or 0.42% to 1,702.30 after hitting an intraday high of 1,703.64.
Despite the gains, broader market sentiment remained negative as decliners outpaced advancers, with 657 stocks closing lower against 500 gainers, translating to a market breadth of 0.76 and signalling that selling pressure dominated.
About 3.03 billion shares, valued at RM2.92bil, changed hands.
Dealers said domestic sentiment was supported by stronger March trade data, which showed a 9.3% year-on-year increase in total trade.
Nevertheless, they said investors remained cautious over prospects of a U.S.-Iran deal, amid growing concerns that the fragile ceasefire may not hold.
Malaysia recorded a higher total trade value of RM272.95bil in March 2026, a 9.3% increase from the same month in 2025, data from the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) showed.
The trade surplus stood at RM24.55bil, marking the 71st consecutive month of surplus since May 2020.
Among the gainers on Bursa Malaysia, F&N rose 46 sen to RM31.46, Maybank added 24 sen to RM11.34, Bintulu Port gained 24 sen to RM5.59 and Heineken climbed 20 sen to RM23.40.
In contrast, Nestle slid RM1 to RM98, United Plantations lost 58 sen to RM33.60, PETRONAS Dagangan fell 38 sen to RM20.20 and Allianz declined 30 sen to RM20.90.
On the forex market, the ringgit weakened 0.04% against the US dollar to 3.9540 and declined 0.06% versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1089.
Meanwhile, Brent crude rose US$5.29, or 5.85%, to US$95.67 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at US$89.24 per barrel, up US$5.39, or 6.43%.
Regionally, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index rose 0.4% while most regional indices finished higher.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.6% to 58,824.89 while South Korea’s Kospi closed up 0.44% at 6,219.09.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 0.77% higher at 26,361.07. China’s CSI300 index gained 0.6% to 4,757.44 while the Shanghai Composite added 0.76% to 4,082.13.
