Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia closed on a positive note for the third consecutive day, achieving a significant milestone by breaking the psychological 1,600 level. This upward movement was propelled by optimistic regional sentiment following a rally on Wall Street last Friday. At the close of the trading day, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) recorded an increase of 4.98 points, or 0.31 percent, closing at 1,602.45, compared to the previous close of 1,597.47.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the benchmark index started the day 5.35 points higher at 1,602.82 and fluctuated between 1,599.59 and 1,609.65 throughout the session. Despite the positive closing of the FBM KLCI, the broader market saw a slight negative trend with 581 decliners outnumbering 520 advancers, while 462 counters remained unchanged, 1,041 were untraded, and 13 were suspended.

The market experienced a turnover increase to 2.90 billion units valued at RM3.17 billion, compared to 2.63 billion units worth RM2.70 billion on the previous trading day. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd’s vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, noted the FBM KLCI’s continued upward trend, which followed gains in major regional indices. These indices mostly closed higher due to optimism regarding a potential interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve as early as next month.

Thong Pak Leng highlighted that the local market had broken four resistance levels-1,540, 1,565, 1,585, and 1,600-over the past three weeks, indicating strong bullish momentum and potential for further gains. However, he also warned about the possibility of profit-taking following the recent uptrend. If the index maintains its position above the 1,600 level, the next target is 1,650, supported by a solid base between 1,540 and 1,550. He forecasted that the FBM KLCI would likely move within the 1,590-1,620 range for the week.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd’s head of investment research, Mohd Sedek Jantan, noted that the FBM KLCI’s third consecutive session of gains aligned with Wall Street’s momentum last Friday. The rally was supported by comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Symposium, indicating the Fed’s openness to a possible rate cut in September. Jantan observed that the index reached an intraday high of 1,609.65 within the first hour of trading before settling back to around the 1,602 level.

Heavyweight stocks showed mixed performances, with Maybank rising by 5.0 sen to RM9.85, and Public Bank and CIMB both adding 4.0 sen to RM4.51 and RM7.50, respectively. Tenaga Nasional increased by 16 sen to RM13.72, while IHH Healthcare decreased by 5.0 sen to RM6.79.

In terms of the most active counters, Magma Group fell 9.5 sen to 21.5 sen, Mtouche Tech and Tanco Holdings dropped half-a-sen to 4.0 sen and 73 sen, respectively, while Permaju Industries remained at 1.0 sen, and Zetrix AI gained 1.5 sen to 88.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 35.50 points to 11,870.06, the FBMT 100 Index advanced 37.62 points to 11,648.79, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased by 39.33 points to 11,800.75. The FBM 70 Index and FBM ACE Index also saw gains, expanding by 60.08 points to 16,616.48 and climbing 16.85 points to 4,760.47, respectively.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose by 82.33 points to 18,305.29, and the Plantation Index added 30.71 points to 7,639.10. In contrast, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell by 1.24 points to 164.09, and the Energy Index decreased by 3.18 points to 745.76.

The Main Market volume improved to 1.76 billion units worth RM2.93 billion from 1.50 billion units valued at RM2.47 billion on Friday. Warrants turnover declined to 652.92 million units worth RM88.90 million from 675.98 million units worth RM93.19 million previously. The ACE Market volume increased to 494.35 million units worth RM145.00 million from 460.91 million units valued at RM138.92 million last Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 393.33 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services with 266.67 million shares, construction with 142.58 million, and technology with 337.24 million shares. Other sectors, including financial services, property, plantation, REITs, energy, healthcare, telecommunications and media, transportation and logistics, utilities, and business trusts, also contributed to the day’s trading volume.