KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher, buoyed by Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to maintain the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) at 2.75 per cent, alongside positive cues from Wall Street.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 19.30 points, or 1.19 per cent, to 1,635.86 from Wednesday’s close of 1,616.56.
The benchmark index opened 6.72 points higher at 1,623.28, and fluctuated between an intraday high of 1,642.44 and a low of 1,622.62 during the trading session.
However, market breadth was negative, with losers outnumbering gainers 723 to 497, while 466 counters were unchanged, 1,075 untraded and 10 suspended.
Turnover rose to 3.74 billion units valued at RM3.61 billion compared with yesterday’s 2.81 billion units valued at RM2.57 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI’s positive performance was driven by strong buying interest in banking heavyweights, supported by improving global market sentiment, although regional equities traded mixed.
Meanwhile, Brent crude prices retreated amid growing hopes of easing tensions in West Asia and easing global inflationary concerns, while a decline in the US 10-year Treasury yield and a softer US dollar provided further support to regional market sentiment.
Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 3.67 per cent to 24,796.98, South Korea’s Kospi fell 5.28 per cent to 5,383.80, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 1.79 per cent lower at 61,077.90, while Singapore’s Straits Times Index was 0.52 per cent higher at 5,296.25.
"Back home, the strong recovery in banking heavyweights suggests renewed institutional buying interest, although broader market participation remains relatively subdued.
"We believe improving external conditions, coupled with attractive valuations following the recent correction, should encourage further accumulation of fundamentally sound blue-chip stocks,” he told Bernama.
Thong said, however, volatility in regional technology stocks and uncertainty surrounding US policy developments could limit the recovery.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank rose 26 sen to RM10.16, CIMB climbed 24 sen to RM7.15, and Public Bank advanced 19 sen to RM4.96. Tenaga Nasional was four sen lower at RM13.10 and IHH Healthcare fell six sen to RM7.72.
In active trade, Zetrix Ai was flat at six sen, AirAsia jumped perked up sen to 53.5 sen, Capital A gained 2.5 sen to 25.5 sen, while Jaks Resources eased half a sen to 12.5 sen, and GIIB shed 9.5 sen to 32 sen.
Nestle led the top gainers, rising RM2.50 to RM96.00, Hong Leong Bank improved 96 sen to RM22.20, and Fraser & Neave added 26 sen to RM21.22. Hong Leong Financial put on 38 sen to RM17.84 and Allianz garnered 40 sen to RM19.92.
Among the top losers, MPI fell RM1.74 to RM38.88, Vitrox lost 30 sen to RM10.60, and UWC sank 61 sen to RM6.59, Mega Fortris tumbled 71 sen to RM1.83, and Petronas Chemicals slid 39 sen to RM4.31.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 56.85 points to 12,134.84 and the FBM Top 100 Index rose 77.25 points to 11,962.33.
The FBM Mid 70 Index slumped 156.52 points to 17,354.73, the FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 97.33 points to 12,007.10, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 98.13 points to 5,322.65.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 2.96 points to 175.25, the Energy Index erased 21.45 points to 806.47, while the Financial Services Index leapt 542.60 points to 19,128.92, and the Plantation Index climbed 22.35 points to 8,784.23.
The Main Market volume improved to 1.89 billion units worth RM3.29 billion from 1.49 billion units worth RM2.30 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover expanded to 1.45 billion units worth RM157.16 million from 899.12 million units worth RM104.16 million previously.
The ACE Market volume fell to 395.36 million units valued at RM162.15 million from 426.08 million units valued at RM165.95 million on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, consumer products and services counters accounted for 359.64 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (335.80 million), construction (185.71 million), technology (307.03 million), financial services (148.56 million), property (101.38 million), plantation (33.43 million), real estate investment trusts (17.03 million), closed-end fund (370,500), energy (166.45 million), healthcare (111.80 million), telecommunications and media (51.89 million), transportation and logistics (43.59 million), utilities (32.55 million), and business trusts (26,800). - Bernama
