KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia could be riding on the optmism of global markets following Wall Street's overnight rebound as investors shrugged off the resumption of hostilities between the US and Iran.
Apex Securities said investors appeared to be growing somewhat inured to the "on-again, off-again" nature of the conflict.
"The pullback in oil prices suggests markets are not yet pricing in a genuine supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz," said the research firm in its outlook.
At the time of writing, Brent crude futures for September delivery were trading around US$76 a barrel, after briefly topping US$80 a barrel on Wednesday.
The FBM KLCI, meanwhile, bounced back 8.39 points to 1,685.7 after ending the previous session about six points lower.
Apex noted that Malaysia's market barometer has been underperforming relative to the global rebound, weighed down by profit-taking in financial services despite Bank Negara's hold in the interest rate.
It said local sentiment remains more cautious than the external backdrop warrants, with investors likely holding back ahead of Saturday's Johor state election.
"We would look for the local market to play catch-up with global risk appetite once the election outcome is known, but maintain a selective, heavyweight-focused stance into the weekend given the lingering geopolitical overhang."
On the blue-chip index, MISC jumped nine sen to RM7.94, IHH rose five sen to RM8.37 and Press Metal
gained seven sen to RM7.63.
Bank shares also turned higher with Maybank rising 10 sen to RM10.96, CIMB adding four sen to RM7.64, RHB gaining three sen to RM8.34 and AmBank climbing three sen to RM6.50.
Most active shares were SRKK AI putting on 1.5 sen to 62.5 sen, SMRT adding one sen to 20 sen and Aemulus up one sen to 32 sen.
