At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 0.36 points, or 0.02%, to 1,621.91, marginally up from Wednesday’s close of 1,621.55.
The benchmark had opened 0.06 of a point lower at 1,621.49.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers thumping decliners 199 to 133, with 273 counters unchanged, 2,048 untraded, and eight suspended.
Turnover stood at 181.89 million shares worth RM74.25 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, said Wall Street rebounded overnight amid legality issues surrounding President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, now under scrutiny by the US Supreme Court.
“Traders are also cautious about the lofty valuations of artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks. There are also uncertainties about whether the US Federal Reserve will cut rates next month.
“Back home, there has been a flurry of activities within the small-cap space following a few high-profile share price declines of late. Therefore, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,620-1,630 range,” he added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and IHH Healthcare gained two sen each to RM9.94 and RM8.30, respectively. Tenaga Nasional added eight sen to RM13.28, while Public Bank slipped five sen to RM4.29 and CIMB Group fell two sen to RM7.48.
On the most active list, Borneo Oil remained unchanged at half-a-sen, MMAG eased half-a-sen to 10 sen, NexG dropped one sen to 29 sen, V.S Industry inched down 1.5 sen to 45 sen, while Dagang Nexchange advanced half-a-sen to 32 sen.
Besides Tenaga Nasional, other top gainers included Petronas Gas, up 14 sen to RM18.84; Vitrox, 10 sen higher at RM4.61; Hong Leong Bank edged up six sen to RM21.02, and Sunway rose five sen to RM5.44.
Top losers included Nestle, which tumbled RM2.80 to RM113.20, Malaysian Pacific Industries fell 32 sen to RM30.12, Time Dotcom slipped 18 sen to RM4.87, Petronas Chemicals, and United Plantations erased six sen each to RM3.69 and RM25.40, respectively.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index increased 1.62 points to 11,808.77, and the FBM Emas Index edged up 1.67 points to 12,050.59.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 15.07 points to 12,064.68, the FBM ACE Index inched up 3.34 points to 5,080.29, while the FBM Mid 70 Index decreased 2.21 points to 16,927.16.
By sector, the Plantation Index climbed 5.26 points to 8,056.60, the Industrial Products and Services Index bagged 0.01 of a point to 168.85, while the Financial Services Index shed 26.13 points to 18,397.66, and the Energy Index eased 2.22 points to 759.61.