KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI held firm at the start of Thursday trading amid the ongoing corporate results period, and as investor sentiment lifted after a better-than-forecast result from Nvidia helped to ease concerns over AI-related earnings.
Malaysia's key index rose 1.36 points to 1,749.9, as equities held firm after the previous session's advance.
Energy shares lifted the benchmark; PETRONAS Gas rose 20 sen to RM17.78 after a positive earnings result, MISC rose five sen to RM8.47 and PETRONAS Chemicals gained four sen to RM4.25.
Among the leading actives, Supermax jumped 4.5 sen to 4.5 sen, Ingenieur was flat at 4.5 sen and Ni Hsin
gained one sen to 19 sen.
The performance on the Malaysian bourse is expected to remain driven by individual corporate earnings as the results period enters its penultimate day, with some heavyweight banks yet to announce their quarterly performance.
According to TA Securities, strengthening technical momentum indicators suggest the blue chips will likely extend gains in the near-term, although upside may remain measured as investors assess the latest corporate earnings results.
"Key overhead resistance will be at the 123.6%FP (1,759), with tougher upside hurdles at the 138.2%FP (1,805) and 150%FP (1,842) ahead.
"On the downside, immediate support for the index remains at the 100%FR (1,684), with better support coming from the June 2026 low (1,655), followed by the 76.4%FR (1,610)," it said in its technical outlook.
On the external front, sentiment is improving as talks over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz proceed between Iran and Oamn. Brent crude futures for october delivery dipped to a two-week low of around US$87 a barrel.
