Rakuten Trade vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the benchmark index has been showing encouraging signs after reclaiming the 1,600-point level, a development that has helped lift overall market confidence.
“This signals that investor sentiment is gradually improving, supported by renewed optimism over both domestic stability and external drivers. Sustaining levels above this psychological threshold could pave the way towards the 1,630-1,650 level,” he told Bernama.
Thong noticed that trading activity has been somewhat muted in recent weeks, but reckons that stronger momentum at the index level may entice more participants to the market.
At the same time, he noted that investors will be closely monitoring a series of key economic indicators and remarks from US Federal Reserve officials, with Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, set to speak tomorrow.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 5.11 points to end at 1,603.34, compared with last Friday’s close of 1,598.23.
The benchmark index opened marginally higher at 1,599.78 and fluctuated between 1,596.46 and 1,604.31 throughout the day.
Nevertheless, the market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 528 to 478 while 509 counters were unchanged, 1,134 untraded and 24 suspended.
Turnover slipped to 2.78 billion units worth RM2.27 billion from 3.59 billion units worth RM4.16 billion last Friday.
Among the heavyweights, Gamuda rallied 17 sen to RM5.69, Public Bank added three sen to RM4.27, and CIMB gained eight sen to RM7.31. Maybank topped up four sen to RM9.84, and Tenaga Nasional climbed four sen to RM13.42.
In active trade, VS Industry added one sen to 60.5 sen, while Tanco Holdings and NexG gained one sen each to 86 sen and 50 sen, respectively. Zetrix AI and KPJ Healthcare were both flat at 87 sen and RM2.51.
Top gainers included Nestle, which gained RM1.78 to RM96.50, while KESM Industries surged 51 sen to RM3.38, and Allianz Malaysia bounced 46 sen to RM18.06. Master-Pack Group rallied 24 sen to RM2.64, and United Plantations jumped 42 sen to RM23.54.
Among top decliners, Petronas Dagangan slid 70 sen to RM22.30, Petronas Gas fell 20 sen to RM18.30, and Dutch Lady Milk Industries lost 20 sen to RM27.18. Kuala Lumpur Kepong slipped 10 sen to RM20.04, while Vitrox Corp shed 12 sen to RM3.74.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index gained 30.07 points to 11,926.50, the FBMT 100 Index rose 29.30 points to 11,676.61, and the FBM ACE Index bounced 58.47 points to 4,973.90. The FBM 70 Index climbed 7.70 points to 16,751.11, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 30.07 points to 11,926.50.
By sector, the financial services index added 86.89 points to 18,090.20, the energy index gained 4.05 points to 759.37, and the industrial products and services index edged up 1.07 points to 169.18. The plantation index advanced 23.54 points to 7,767.88.
The Main Market volume fell to 1.47 billion units, valued at RM1.97 billion, from 2.32 billion units worth RM3.9 billion last Friday.
Warrants turnover increased to 895.48 million units, valued at RM148.25 million, from 637.62 million units worth RM93.26 million previously.
The ACE Market volume weakened to 405.44 million shares worth RM157.95 million, from 626.63 million shares worth RM164.47 million last Friday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 206.06 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (354.41 million), construction (107.24 million), technology (258.9 million), financial services (70.08 million), property (146.83 million), plantation (17.27 million), REITs (19.87 million), closed/fund (586,600), energy (91.37 million), healthcare (112.93 million), telecommunications and media (27.02 million), transportation and logistics (26.04 million), utilities (32.91 million), and business trusts (27,100).