KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher on Thursday, supported by broad-based buying as Bank Negara Malaysia kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
The FBM KLCI finished up 6.39 points, or 0.37%, to 1,715.13 after moving between its intraday high of 1,716.23 and low of 1,708.47.
In the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners, with 625 stocks ending higher against 497 that closed lower, giving a market breadth ratio of 1.26-to-1, signalling that the bulls maintained the upper hand. Turnover totalled 3.91 billion shares valued at RM3.22bil.
Earlier, Bank Negara Malaysia kept the overnight policy rate (OPR) unchanged at 2.75% for the seventh consecutive meeting, in line with market expectations.
The central bank has maintained the OPR at 2.75% since cutting the benchmark rate by 25 basis points in July 2025.
Among the gainers, MI Technovation rose 27 sen to RM5.82, Gamuda gained 25 sen to RM4.67, United Plantations added 24 sen to RM33.02 and Kee Ming Group climbed 23 sen to RM2.41.
In contrast, Nestle tumbled RM2.04 to RM94.48, F&N lost 36 sen to RM24.38, Heineken fell 34 sen to RM15.64 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong declined 32 sen to RM22.38.
On the forex front, the ringgit inched down 0.01% against the US dollar to 4.0460, while the Singapore dollar fell 0.44% to 3.1895.
Meanwhile, Brent crude fell 34 cents, or 0.36% to US$95.29 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude declined 31 cents, or 0.34%, to US$90.70 per barrel.
Elsewhere in the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index rose 0.17%, while regional bourses finished mixed.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.26% to 6,579.48, while China’s CSI300 index gained 0.1% to 4,552.58. The Shanghai Composite index was little changed at 3,942.09.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.17% to 64,214.48, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.39% to 25,213.31 and Taiwan’s TAIEX shed 0.67% to 45,857.66.
