Kuala Lumpur:Bursa Malaysia's key index ended higher on Friday, buoyed by renewed buying in selected blue chip stocks, particularly in the financial services sector, amidst mixed sentiment in regional markets. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased by 4.44 points, or 0.28%, closing at 1,615.60, up from the previous day's 1,611.16.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the benchmark index opened 0.70 points higher at 1,611.86 and fluctuated between 1,606.72 and 1,620.76 throughout the trading session. Despite the positive performance of the key index, the broader market witnessed more decliners than gainers, with 648 losers compared to 430 gainers. Additionally, 501 counters remained unchanged, 1,201 were not traded, and 66 were suspended.
The turnover for the day increased to 3.15 billion units worth RM2.68 billion, compared to Thursday's 2.95 billion units valued at RM2.43 billion. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, noted that regional markets had a mixed performance. Japan and South Korea experienced declines due to concerns over AI-related investments, while Hong Kong saw an uptick driven by bargain hunting in tech stocks.
On the domestic front, investors are continuing to evaluate corporate earnings, high crude oil prices, and external uncertainties. Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank, Public Bank, and CIMB each rose by two sen, reaching RM10.02, RM4.75, and RM6.91, respectively. Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare remained unchanged at RM13.30 and RM7.85.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong led the gainers, rising by 44 sen to RM20.96. Other notable gainers included Ayer Holdings, APM Automotive Holdings, United Plantations, and Petronas Dagangan. Conversely, Malaysian Pacific Industries topped the list of losers, falling RM1.72 to RM39.78. Other significant decliners included Mega Fortris, UWC, MI Technovation, and Hong Leong Bank.
Sector indices saw varied performance, with the Financial Services Index rising by 10.05 points to 18,547.99, the Industrial Products and Services Index adding 0.98 points to 178.37, the Energy Index improving by 7.80 points to 852.16, and the Plantation Index increasing by 60.52 points to 8,697.42. The Main Market volume rose to 1.87 billion units worth RM2.42 billion, while the ACE Market volume decreased to 384.14 million units valued at RM143.92 million.