Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said sentiment on Wall Street was buoyed by positive US labour data, which showed the unemployment rate easing to 4.4% from 4.6% previously.
On the domestic front, he said the benchmark index is expected to trade within the 1,680 to 1,695 range today, after surging past the 1,680-level last week on solid late buying interest.
He added that signs of foreign buying emerged last Friday and, if sustained, could propel the index above the 1,700 level in the near term.
At 9.05am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged up 0.99 of a point, or 0.06% to 1,687.53 from last Friday’s close of 1,686.54, after opening 0.53 points higher at 1,687.07.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers outpacing losers 210 to 80.
Some 330 counters were unchanged, 2,030 were untraded, and 55 were suspended.
Turnover stood at 121.35 million shares valued at RM57.16 million.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank and IHH were flat at RM10.86 and RM8.53, respectively, while Public Bank fell 2 sen to RM4.56.
CIMB rose 1 sen to RM8.16 and Tenaga Nasional added 2 sen to RM13.58.
On the most active list, Zetrix AI gained 1.5 sen to 84.5 sen, VS Industry rose 0.5 sen to 49.5 sen, while TWL, MMAG and Dagang Nexchange were unchanged at 2.5 sen, 6.5 sen and 35 sen, respectively.
Among top gainers, Malaysian Pacific and Hong Leong Bank advanced 22 sen each to RM33.52 and RM23.28, respectively.
United Plantation, Hong Leong Financial Group and Tradeplus Shariah Gold climbed 14 sen each to RM33.46, RM19.88 and RM5.71.
Top decliners saw MISC drop 10 sen to RM7.70, Hong Leong Industries and Edaran fall 6 sen each to RM16.58 and RM1.13, Vstecs shed 5 sen to RM3.95 and Vitrox eased 3 sen to RM4.66.
Meanwhile, trading in IJM Corporation Bhd and Sunway Bhd shares was suspended at the companies’ request, effective 9am today, Jan 12, 2026, pending announcements.
Trading in the structured warrants related to Sunway and IJM was also suspended at the same time, according to separate filings with Bursa Malaysia.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index added 16.48 points to 12,480.99, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 14.60 points to 12,266.85, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 27.74 points to 12,275.65.
The FBM Mid 70 Index climbed 54.03 points to 17,503.28, while the FBM ACE Index advanced 18.90 points to 5,020.39.
Sector-wise, the financial services index gained 18.61 points to 20,061.56, the energy index rose 3.40 points to 748.62, the industrial products and services index edged up 0.73 of-a-point to 174.06, and the plantation index added 17.20 points to 8,507.78.