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KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia continued its upward trend, closing higher on Thursday due to positive market sentiment driven by stronger-than-expected macroeconomic data.
The bourse also benefitted from gains on Wall Street overnight and firmer regional markets.
The market was closed on Feb 17-18 for the Chinese New Year holidays.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Sedek Jantan said most regional equity markets closed higher, reinforcing the constructive risk tone that carried into the local benchmark index.
“Major indices finished in positive territory, reflecting broad-based buying interest. Among benchmark constituents, banking stocks led the gainers on renewed risk appetite, while utilities counters lagged amid sector rotation.
“On a sectoral basis, the energy index outperformed, advancing by more than 2%, driven by a surge of over 7% in selected green energy stocks,” he told Bernama.
Sedek also said that the US markets ended higher in the previous session as manufacturing resilience re-entered the narrative, with stronger-than-expected durable goods orders and industrial production.
“On the economic front, today’s release of Malaysia&#8217;s January consumer price index (CPI) data showed headline inflation steady at 1.6% year-on-year, with core inflation unchanged at 2.3%, reflecting a balance of opposing price pressures rather than an absence of movement.
“This upward pressure was offset by declining transport and energy prices, which moved into negative territory during the month, exerting a countervailing influence on the headline index,” he added.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose by 10.85 points, or 0.62%, to 1,752.11 compared with Monday’s close of 1,741.26.
The benchmark index had opened 6.82 points higher at 1,748.08, and moved between 1,755.08 and 1,743.63 throughout the trading session.
The broader market was also positive with gainers thumping losers 748 to 288, while 483 counters were unchanged, 1,218 counters untraded, and 11 suspended.
Turnover was higher at 2.04 billion units, worth RM2.52 billion, compared to 1.81 billion units, worth RM1.81 billion, on Monday.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained 12 sen to RM12.06, Public Bank rose 10 sen to RM5.06, CIMB and IHH Healthcare added nine sen each to RM8.47 and RM8.91, respectively, while Tenaga Nasional fell 16 sen to RM14.26.
On the most active list, Zetrix AI shed half a sen to 85.5 sen, Tanco and Capital A advanced one sen each to RM1.44 and 60.5 sen, respectively, Sime Darby climbed six sen to RM2.40, while 99 Speed Mart slipped 23 sen to RM3.50.
As for the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries climbed 80 sen to RM30.78, Allianz Malaysia grew 40 sen to RM22.66, Petronas Dagangan bagged 38 sen to RM21, Hong Leong Financial expanded 32 sen to RM22.32, and Kelington garnered 31 sen to RM5.11.
Besides 99 Speed Mart and Tenaga Nasional, other top decliners included Southern Acids, which slipped 17 sen to RM3.28, Dutch Lady Milk lost 14 sen to RM33.14, and Teo Guan Lee dipped seven sen to 83 sen.
MORE TO COME

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