KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher on Friday, driven by renewed buying interest in banking stocks as trading momentum picked up at the end of trading, said analysts.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 9.99 points or 0.58 per cent to 1,740.88 from 1,730.89 at the close on Thursday.
The market’s leading index opened up 1.73 points to 1,732.62, the day’s low before moving to a daily high of 1,744.82 after 22 minutes of trading.
In the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers by 623 to 446, with 608 counters unchanged, 1,013 counters untraded and 61 others suspended from trading.
Trading volume declined to 2.73 billion shares worth RM3.43 billion from 3.06 billion shares worth RM3.95 billion on Thursday.
Director, Investment Strategy and Economic Analyst Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI’s resilience was supported by a large composition in financial sector stocks, which helped cushion the index from broader market weakness.
“We found that the decline in the last two days was a good thing and an opportunity to accumulate shares, especially in banking stocks.
“So far this year, the Bursa Malaysia Financial Services Index has increased by more than eight percent,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd Vice President of Equity Research Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse outperformed most regional markets, which closed lower amid mixed signals from Wall Street overnight and a decline in technology stocks.
“Asian markets overall closed mostly lower after a sell-off led by technology stocks on Wall Street as investors reassessed whether large investments related to artificial intelligence could be sustained in the long term,” he said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added 16 sen to RM11.80, Public Bank rose two sen to RM4.87, CIMB added 11 sen to RM8.58, and IHH Healthcare rose 10 sen to RM8.96 while Tenaga Nasional fell six sen to RM13.94.
For the most active stocks, Capital A was down two sen to 61.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange fell 2.5 sen to 29.5 sen, Tanco Holdings rose two sen to RM1.36, Zetrix AI rose half a sen to 80.5 sen, and SP Setia rose one sen to 98.5 sen.
The biggest losers were led by Nestle which fell RM2.00 to RM112.00, United Plantations fell 34 sen to RM30.24, Batu Kawan fell 22 sen to RM19.36, and Malaysian Pacific Industries fell 20 sen to RM32.00.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 62.18 points to 12,562.02, the FBM Emas Index rose 54.49 points to 12,745.99 and the FBM Mid 70 Index added 42.15 points to 17,509.58.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 2.91 points to 12,275.32 and the FBM ACE Index fell 20.78 points to 4,723.00.
By sector, the Financial Services Index jumped 373.84 points to 21,510.18 and the Energy Index added 5.87 points to 758.93.
However, the Plantation Index fell 0.42 points to 8,364.56 and the Industrial Products and Services Index was down 0.58 points to 175.56.
Main Market trading volume decreased to 1.58 billion units worth RM3.17 billion from 1.84 billion units worth RM3.65 billion on Thursday.
Warrant trading volume declined to 748.94 million units worth RM103.08 million from 800.64 million units worth RM115.53 million previously.
ACE Market trading volume decreased to 392.11 million units worth RM150.43 million from 419.29 million units worth RM176.11 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters contributed 266.24 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (229.95 million), construction (148.36 million), technology (254.17 million), financial services (153.55 million), real estate (211.88 million), plantations (21.76 million), real estate investment trusts (23.19 million), closed-end funds (53,300), energy (80.33 million), healthcare (97.34 million), telecommunications and media (35.53 million), transportation and logistics (24.82 million), utilities (37.41 million) as well as business trusts (90,600).
— BERNAMA
