UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Sedek Jantan said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) snapped a three-day losing streak today, led by a rebound in banking stocks.
“Consumer stocks also continued their persistent uptrend, as Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) rate cut is expected to benefit the consumer sector through lower borrowing costs and improved discretionary spending.
“Financial equities tend to benefit from monetary policy easing, as lower borrowing costs typically boost credit demand, improve loan quality, and support economic activity. These factors enhance the earnings outlook for the banking sector,” he told Bernama.
However, he noted that foreign investors remained net sellers in the local capital market, signalling ongoing caution.
“While the policy shift should, in principle, bolster investor sentiment, concerns over trade fragmentation and external headwinds continue to temper risk appetite,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng noted that external headwinds such as the expansion of US tariffs and the ongoing tension in the Middle East continued to pose significant challenges for the local benchmark index.
“There is rising confidence that governments will reach agreements to mitigate the impact of US president Donald Trump’s expanded tariff measures.
“As for the local bourse, reclaiming the 1,530 threshold marks an important technical achievement for the index. As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,530-1,550 towards the weekend,” he said.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 7.28 points to 1,536.52 from yesterday’s close of 1,529.24.
The benchmark index had earlier opened 2.19 points higher at 1,531.43 and subsequently hit its lowest level of 1,523.25 in early trade.
The market breadth was positive, with 514 gainers outpacing 406 decliners.
A total of 540 counters were unchanged, while 958 were untraded and 10 were suspended.
Turnover rose to 3.25 billion shares worth RM2.45 billion, compared with 2.95 billion shares worth RM1.99 billion yesterday.
Nestle led the consumer sector, gaining 40 sen to RM78.80, followed by Hong Leong Industries, which popped 26 sen to RM13.66.
Among other heavyweight counters, Maybank gained 3 sen to RM9.73, Public Bank added 4 sen to RM4.30, and CIMB went up 13 sen to RM6.70.
However, Tenaga Nasional was 4 sen lower at RM13.96, and IHH Healthcare slipped 2 sen to RM6.65.
In active trade, Zetrix AI added 2.5 sen to 98 sen, while Sapura Energy, Eco-Shop and NexG were all flat at 4 sen, RM1.27 and 44.5 sen, respectively. Tanco climbed 1 sen to 90 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 44.11 points to 11,528.33, the FBMT 100 Index expanded 43.59 points to 11,293.13, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 21.85 points to 11,508.74.
The FBM 70 Index increased 20.66 points to 16,655.60, while the FBM ACE Index improved 19.94 points to 4,516.57.
By sector, the financial services index surged 116.89 points to 17,622.38, the industrial products and services index inched up 0.32 of a point to 153.54, while the plantation index fell 17.82 points to 7,461.26.
The energy index eased 0.28 of a point to 736.62.
The Main Market volume inched higher to 1.32 billion units worth RM2.17 billion from 1.31 billion units valued at RM1.74 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover rose to 1.69 billion units valued at RM190.86 million from 1.25 billion units worth RM134.91 million previously.
The ACE Market volume narrowed to 241.47 million units valued at RM86.17 million, versus 382.69 million units worth RM116.98 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 230.09 million shares traded on the Main Market; industrial products and services (177.06 million), construction (127.04 million), technology (213.35 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (75.64 million), property (189.39 million), plantation (18.59 million), REITs (28.44 million), closed-end fund (3,000), energy (98.31 million), healthcare (49.10 million), telecommunications and media (32.35 million), transportation and logistics (25.44 million), utilities (57.80 million), and business trusts (102,200).