KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia maintained its upward momentum to end the week higher, briefly breaching the 1,600 key level during the early session, driven by persistent buying in selected heavyweights, led by telecommunications and media, as well as industrial products and services counters, a dealer said.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 4.60 points, or 0.29 per cent, to settle at 1,597.47, the highest level in over five months, from Thursday’s close of 1,592.87.
The benchmark index opened 0.93 of-a-point firmer at 1,593.80, and moved between 1,593.42, its intraday low, and hit a high of 1,603.19 during the mid-morning session.
The broader market was positive with advancers leading decliners 561 to 428, while 526 counters were unchanged, 1,079 untraded and 12 suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 2.63 billion units worth 2.70 billion ringgit from 2.67 billion units worth 2.87 billion ringgit on Thursday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI ended higher supported by strong corporate earnings.
“Major Asian indices closed higher despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, as fresh funds continued to flow into the region—particularly into developed markets—driven by stronger regional growth,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the key index extended its rally today, breaching the 1,600 level during the morning session and reached an intraday high of 1,603.19 – a level last seen on February 12 this year.
“While momentum moderated slightly in the afternoon, the benchmark index remained firmly in positive territory. Gains were led by telecommunications, consumer, and industrial counters, underscoring sectoral breadth in the advance,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank gained 2.0 sen each to 9.80 ringgit and 4.47 ringgit, respectively, CIMB added 1.0 sen to 7.46 ringgit, IHH Healthcare went up 3.0 sen to 6.84 ringgit, while Tenaga Nasional slipped 8.0 sen to 13.56 ringgit.
Of the most active counters, Tanco eased half-a-sen to 73.5 sen, Zetrix AI perked up 2.0 sen to 89.5 sen, while TWL Holdings and SFP Tech were flat at 2.5 sen and 15.5 sen, respectively. – Bernama