KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia concluded its penultimate trading day of the year on a positive note, recovering from earlier losses due to robust buying momentum in select heavyweight stocks. The market rally was largely fueled by Maybank and Petronas Chemicals, amid year-end window dressing activities by local institutional investors.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) climbed 9.54 points, or 0.59 percent, to close at 1,637.68. This marked an improvement from the previous close of 1,628.14, despite the benchmark index opening 2.0 points lower at 1,626.14. Throughout the day, the index fluctuated between 1,624.92 and 1,638.56.
The broader market showed strength as well, with 614 gainers outpacing 452 decliners. Meanwhile, 526 counters remained unchanged, 820 were untraded, and 67 were suspended. However, the overall turnover decreased to 2.55 billion units valued at RM2.09 billion, compared to last Friday’s 2.87 billion units valued at RM2.08 billion.
Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, commented on the positive market trajectory, attributing the surge to the encouraging prospects of foreign direct investments, the tech sector’s advancements, and solid corporate earnings, all buoyed by an optimistic economic outlook. “Amid the uncertainty surrounding tariffs, the belief that several Asian economies could benefit from reshuffled supply chains remains strong,” he told Bernama.
Among major stocks, Maybank saw a rise of 14 sen to RM10.24, Petronas Chemicals increased by 9.0 sen to RM5.10, and TNB climbed 10 sen to RM14.84. Other significant movers included Hong Leong Bank, which rose six sen to RM20.42, while CIMB and IHH Healthcare remained steady at RM8.15 and RM7.23, respectively. Public Bank, however, dipped by three sen to RM4.54.
In the active stocks category, Vanzo rose one sen to 21 sen, JCY International gained half-a-sen to 57.5 sen, and Sime Darby Property advanced nine sen to RM1.70. Supermax increased six sen to RM1.34, while TWL Holdings stayed flat at 2.5 sen.
The performance extended across various indices, with the FBM Emas Index rising 76.17 points to 12,557.92, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index up 89.75 points to 12,578.84. The FBMT 100 Index also saw a gain of 72.01 points to reach 12,237.18.
On the sectoral front, the Financial Services Index added 64.95 points to 19,106.91, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.32 points to 175.99. The Energy Index gained 1.89 points, reaching 826.54, and the Plantation Index increased by 16.14 points to 7,619.15.
Market volume on the Main Market expanded to 1.42 billion units worth RM1.88 billion from 1.36 billion units worth RM1.86 billion on the previous Friday. Warrants turnover, however, declined to 702.78 million units valued at RM69.42 million from 919.28 million units valued at RM85.11 million. The ACE Market volume contracted to 432.90 million units worth RM136.36 million from 588.15 million units worth RM131.65 million previously.