Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices ended mostly higher on improving sentiment amid the strengthening local currencies against the US dollar.

“In addition, weak US sales will bolster the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, thus helping to improve investor sentiment,” he told Bernama.

Back home, he said the local bourse continues to trade with a positive undertone, supported by sustained buying interest and firmer investor sentiment.

“Hence, we anticipate the benchmark index to trend within the range of 1,740-1,770 for the rest of the week,” he added.

Meanwhile, IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Sedek Jantan said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed firmer at 1,756.39 as the market extended its recovery momentum.

“The benchmark index traded constructively throughout the session, building on yesterday’s rebound and finishing near the upper end of its intraday range.

“The stronger close suggests improved conviction compared to the previous session, with buying interest sustained into the final hour rather than fading,” he added.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 8.85 points or 0.51% to 1,756.39 from Tuesday’s close of 1,747.54.

The barometer index opened 3.69 points higher at 1,751.23 before moving as low as 1,745.51 in early trade to as high as 1,757.15 during the mid-afternoon session.

Market breadth was positive with gainers leading losers 575 to 474, while 549 counters were unchanged, 1,087 untraded and 11 suspended.

Turnover expanded to 2.55 billion units valued at RM3.06 billion from yesterday’s 2.19 billion units valued at RM2.35 billion.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 26 sen to RM12.26, Public Bank rose three sen to RM5.14, CIMB put on four sen to RM8.59, IHH Healthcare fell two sen to RM8.75, while Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.

On the most active list, Pharmaniaga edged up two sen to 32.5 sen, Tanco added one sen to RM1.38, Zetrix AI rose three sen to 81.5 sen, TWL inched down half-a-sen to two sen, while Velesto Energy was flat at 31 sen.

Of the top gainers, Hong Leong Industries jumped 76 sen to RM18.20, KSL widened 23 sen to RM3.28, LPI Capital and United Plantations put on 20 sen each to RM15.38 and RM30.20, and UMS Integration rose 18 sen to RM4.26.

As for the leading decliners, Malaysian Pacific Industries was RM1.40 lower at RM30.80, Fraser & Neave lost 88 sen to RM32.30, Nestle declined 70 sen to RM111.30, BLD Plantation slid 24 sen to RM15.30, and Hong Leong Bank shed 18 sen to RM24.80.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 56.92 points to 12,655.61, the FBM Emas Index gained 57.20 points to 12,828.77, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 32.16 points to 12,262.43, the FBM Mid 70 Index went up 47.88 points to 17,557.29, and the FBM ACE Index widened 1.73 points to 4,750.49.

Sector-wise, the financial services index jumped 158.29 points to 21,870.38, the industrial products and services index edged up 1.20 points to 176.51, the energy index rose by 5.60 points to 749.39 and the plantation index advanced 2.79 points to 8,385.89.

The Main Market volume improved to 1.49 billion units worth RM2.85 billion from 1.18 billion units worth RM2.13 billion on Tuesday.

Warrants turnover strengthened to 642.03 million units valued at RM71.9 million from 588.48 million units valued at RM61.42 million previously.

The ACE Market volume fell to 413.84 million units worth RM144 million from 420.31 million units worth RM153.31 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 196.69 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (272.98 million), construction (150.45 million), technology (140.58 million), financial services (132.38 million), property (210.57 million), plantation (23.84 million), real estate investment trusts (30.14 million), closed-end fund (1,000), energy (102.4 million), healthcare (120.81 million), telecommunications and media (49.45 million), transportation and logistics (31.03 million), utilities (33.13 million), and business trusts (368,400).