Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said major Asian indices also closed higher despite broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, which saw strong selling in technology stocks.
On the local bourse, he said the benchmark index continues its encouraging momentum, reflecting improved sentiment and renewed investor confidence.
Thong said optimism is building as the index edges closer to the key 1,600 psychological level, opening the door for further gains.
“Overall, the outlook remains constructive, with opportunities for growth as confidence builds across regional markets.
“As such, we anticipate the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to move within the 1,580-1,600 range towards the weekend,” he told Bernama today.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 4.66 points, or 0.29% to settle at 1,592.87 from yesterday’s close of 1,588.21.
The benchmark index opened 3.71 points firmer at 1,591.92, and moved between 1,589.88 and 1,596.02 throughout the day.
However, the broader market was slightly negative with decliners beating advancers 522 to 513, while 491 counters were unchanged, 1,068 untraded and 17 suspended.
Turnover widened to 2.67 billion units worth RM2.87 billion from 2.55 billion units worth RM2.50 billion yesterday.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional slipped 2 sen each to RM9.78 and RM13.64, respectively.
Public Bank trimmed 1 sen to RM4.45, IHH Healthcare declined 7 sen to RM6.81, while CIMB jumped 9 sen to RM7.45.
Of the most active counters, Tanco added 1 sen to 74 sen, Petronas Chemicals soared 58 sen to RM4.76, NexG went up 6 sen to 45 sen, and Lotte Chemical advanced 2.5 sen to 59 sen.
Across the broader market, the FBM Emas Index increased 18.08 points to 11,800.91, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 14.13 points to 11,582.43, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 18.59 points to 11,717.93, the FBM 70 Index fell 67.24 points to 16,536.22, and the FBM ACE Index added 12.41 points to 4,708.33.
By sector, the financial services index gained 19.01 points to 18,184.15, the plantation index garnered 13.92 points to 7,606.52, the industrial products and services index perked up 2.94 points to 163.67, and the energy index ticked up 1.44 points to 750.73.
The Main Market volume advanced to 1.55 billion units valued at RM2.65 billion from yesterday’s 1.46 billion units valued at RM2.28 billion.
Warrants turnover declined to 688.24 million units worth RM86.01 million from 780.41 million units worth RM93.66 million previously.
The ACE Market volume increased to 424.96 million units worth RM132.02 million from 310.20 million units worth RM124.67 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 233.43 million shares traded on the Main Market; industrial products and services (341.51 million), construction (94.93 million), technology (163.45 million), financial services (114.04 million), property (151.83 million), plantation (26.31 million), REITs (38.80 million), closed-end fund (9,300), energy (130.79 million), healthcare (97.46 million), telecommunications and media (94.90 million), transportation and logistics (37.35 million), utilities (33.75 million), and business trusts (9,200).