Bursa Malaysia closed higher on Wednesday as bargain-hunting activities emerged following recent pullback in the market, analysts said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) increased 0.13%, or 2.21 points, to 1,682.13 from Tuesday’s close of 1,679.92.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said major Asian markets ended higher amid broad buying in technology and semiconductor stocks.
As for the local bourse, he said that while bargain hunting has helped lift the market from its recent lows, lingering geopolitical uncertainties, persistent foreign fund outflows, and the lack of strong near-term catalysts are likely to keep investors on the sidelines.
“Nonetheless, the recent market correction has made valuations of selected blue-chip stocks more attractive, which could help provide support for the broader market.
“Overall, we expect the FBM KLCI to remain range-bound between 1,680 and 1,700 for the remainder of the week as investors continue to assess global developments and the sustainability of the recent recovery,” Thong told Bernama.
Meanwhile, IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Sedek Jantan said gains in the local bourse were led by healthcare stocks, followed by telecommunications and banking counters, as investors rotated into sectors that had experienced recent price corrections.
The telecommunications sector, in particular, attracted buying interest after declining a cumulative 5% since Tuesday last week, while selected banking stocks also rebounded on renewed value buying.
“While foreign investors remained net sellers, the market’s ability to advance reflects continued support from domestic institutions and suggests an ongoing sector rotation rather than a broad-based risk-off sentiment.
“This resilience indicates that investors remain constructive on Malaysia’s medium-term economic and earnings prospects, with market pullbacks continuing to offer opportunities for selective accumulation,” said Sedek.
The index opened 2.11 points better at 1,682.03 and moved between 1,680.49 and 1,690.66 throughout the trading session.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing decliners 518 to 483, while 564 counters were unchanged, 1,175 untraded and 41 suspended.
Turnover shrank to 2.76 billion units valued at RM2.42 billion against 3.35 billion units worth RM3.12 billion on Tuesday.
Among heavyweight stocks, IHH Healthcare rose 17 sen to RM8.73, IOI Properties Group perked up 7.0 sen to RM4.10, Maxis climbed 4.0 sen to RM3.28, MRDIY added 2.0 sen to RM1.65, and CelcomDigi gained 3.0 sen to RM2.68.
Of the top active counters, Zetrix AI eased 0.5 sen to 75.5 sen, Tanco put on half a sen to 14 sen, Dagang NeXchange bagged 1.5 to 44 sen, Pegasus Heights was flat at 1.0 sen, while HHRG shed 1.0 sen to 9.5 sen.
Among top gainers, United Plantations advanced 66 sen to RM33.62, Nestle climbed 66 sen to RM95.66, MPI added 38 sen to RM46.88, Kelington rose 26 sen to RM7.54, and UWC ticked up 22 sen to RM6.32.
Among the top losers, F&N fell 50 sen to RM27.40, Hong Leong Industries slipped 28 sen to RM18.72, TMK Chemical sank 16 sen to RM2.48, Hong Leong Financial Group declined 14 sen to RM18.18 and XL Holdings tumbled 13.5 sen to 75 sen.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index increased 34.00 points to 12,474.66, the FBM Top 100 Index climbed 31.05 points to 12,308.29, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 64.06 points to 12,376.54.
The FBM Mid 70 Index surged 108.54 points to 17,887.26 and the FBM ACE Index jumped 47.35 points to 4,767.03.
Sector-wise, the financial services index slid 16.83 points to 19,756.34, while the energy index gained 2.74 points to 750.20, the plantation index rose 12.47 points to 8,980.19, and the industrial products and services index edged up 0.48 of a point to 184.66.
The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.40 billion units worth RM2.13 billion from 1.70 billion units valued at RM2.79 billion on Tuesday.
Warrants turnover decreased to 947.50 million units valued at RM118.73 million versus 1.02 billion units worth RM121.03 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume tumbled to 411.17 million units worth RM168.90 million against 622.37 million units worth RM209.06 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 170.22 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (239.92 million), construction (67.69 million), technology (338.77 million), financial services (54.44 million), property (245.53 million), plantation (38.54 million), real estate investment trusts (16.10 million), closed-end fund (314,400), energy (67.97 million), healthcare (78.63 million), telecommunications and media (33.85 million), transportation and logistics (27.11 million), utilities (29.70 million), and business trusts (21,000).
