Late buying of banking stocks lifts Bursa Malaysia to close at intraday high

New Straits Times

2 days ago

KUALA LUMPUR: Late buying of banking stocks pushed up Bursa Malaysia to close at its intraday high today, with the key index gaining 0.48 per cent, in line with the improved regional sentiment.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 7.28 points to 1,536.52 from Wednesday's close of 1,529.24. The benchmark index had earlier opened 2.19 points higher at 1,531.43 and subsequently hit its lowest level of 1,523.25 in early trade.
The market breadth was positive, with 514 gainers outpacing 406 decliners. A total of 540 counters were unchanged, while 958 were untraded and 10 were suspended.
Turnover rose to 3.25 billion shares worth RM2.45 billion, compared with 2.95 billion shares worth RM1.99 billion on Wednesday.
UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research, Mohd Sedek Jantan, said the FBMKLCI snapped a three-day losing streak today, led by a rebound in banking stocks.
"Consumer stocks also continued their persistent uptrend, as Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) rate cut is expected to benefit the consumer sector through lower borrowing costs and improved discretionary spending.
"Financial equities tend to benefit from monetary policy easing, as lower borrowing costs typically boost credit demand, improve loan quality, and support economic activity. These factors enhance the earnings outlook for the banking sector," he told Bernama.
However, he noted that foreign investors remained net sellers in the local capital market, signalling ongoing caution. "While the policy shift should, in principle, bolster investor sentiment, concerns over trade fragmentation and external headwinds continue to temper risk appetite," he said.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng noted that external headwinds such as the expansion of US tariffs and the ongoing tension in the Middle East continued to pose significant challenges for the local benchmark index.
"There is rising confidence that governments will reach agreements to mitigate the impact of US President Donald Trump's expanded tariff measures. As for the local bourse, reclaiming the 1,530 threshold marks an important technical achievement for the index. As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,530-1,550 towards the weekend," he said.
Nestle led the consumer sector, gaining 40 sen to RM78.80, followed by Hong Leong Industries, which popped 26 sen to RM13.66. Among other heavyweight counters, Maybank gained three sen to RM9.73, Public Bank added four sen to RM4.30, and CIMB went up 13 sen to RM6.70. However, Tenaga Nasional was four sen lower at RM13.96, and IHH Healthcare slipped two sen to RM6.65.
In active trade, Zetrix AI added 2.5 sen to 98 sen, while Sapura Energy, Eco-Shop and NexG all were flat at four sen, RM1.27 and 44.5 sen, respectively. Tanco climbed one sen to 90 sen.