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KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index ended the week slightly higher, driven by strong buying interest in Petronas Chemicals, which surged by more than 20% as investors viewed it as a potential beneficiary of the Iran crisis due to its domestic feedstock supply and cost advantages.
Petronas Chemicals surged 78 sen, or 22.2%, to RM4.29, contributing 10.3 points to the index’s advance.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Sedek Jantan said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended higher today, extending its rebound for a second consecutive session as bargain-hunting emerged following earlier weakness this week.
He added that gains were primarily driven by stocks linked to the basic materials, utilities and energy sectors, which helped support the broader index and hovered around the psychological 1,700 level, suggesting that near-term technical support remains intact despite the recent bout of volatility.
“Notably, despite heightened tensions in the Middle East, foreign investors turned net buyers on Bursa Malaysia yesterday, indicating that international funds remain selectively engaged with the Malaysian market,” Sedek told Bernama.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI gained 4.86 points, or 0.28% to close at 1,718.06 from yesterday’s close of 1,713.20.
The benchmark index opened 0.60 of-a-point lower at 1,712.60 and moved between 1,708.48 and 1,719.95 throughout the session.
On the broader market, losers beat gainers 675 to 411, while 518 counters were unchanged, 1,018 untraded and 22 suspended.
Turnover expanded to 3.71 billion units worth RM4.05 billion from yesterday’s 2.85 billion units worth RM3.26 billion.
Among Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights, Maybank advanced six sen to RM11.76, Press Metal jumped 16 sen to RM7.81, SD Guthrie was flat at RM5.60, Public Bank shed three sen to RM4.87 and CIMB declined seven sen to RM7.97.
On the most active list, Pegasus Heights rose 0.5 sen to one sen, Lotte Chemical soared 14.5 sen to 48.5 sen, Velesto added one sen to 33 sen, AirAsia X trimmed 14 sen to RM1.28 and Capital A eased 2.5 sen to 43 sen.
Among top gainers, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed 64 sen to RM19.36, MISC garnered 46 sen to RM8.70, United Plantations went up 28 sen to RM30.28, and PPB increased 24 sen to RM11.14.
As for the top losers, Nestle lost RM2.30 to RM105.80, Malaysian Pacific Industries shrank 94 sen to RM30.10, Allianz Malaysia slid 52 sen to RM20.86 and Hong Leong Industries slipped 40 sen to RM17.18.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 10.03 points to 12,527.36, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 12.52 points to 12,367.41, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 33.06 points to 12,206.80, the FBM 70 Index slid 84.15 points to 17,103.33 and the FBM ACE Index tumbled 96.43 points to 4,400.03.
By sector, the financial services index dipped 64.71 points to 20,788.05, the industrial products and services index bagged 4.13 points to 178.29, the energy index increased 10.33 points to 795.27 and the plantation index garnered 61.54 points to 8,248.44.
The Main Market volume swelled to 2.5 billion units valued at RM3.8 billion from yesterday’s 1.82 billion units valued at RM3.05 billion.
Warrants turnover expanded to 881.1 million units worth RM110.71 million from 731.61 million units worth RM100.29 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume improved to 326.47 million units valued at RM138.63 million from 290.47 million units valued at RM104.73 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 502.57 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (457.68 million), construction (203.7 million), technology (189.67 million), financial services (129.10 million), property (310.11 million), plantation (31.14 million), real estate investment trusts (19.17 million), closed-end fund (43,300), energy (387.3 million), healthcare (139.74 million), telecommunications and media (49.58 million), transportation and logistics (56.39 million), utilities (32.35 million), and business trusts (320,100).

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