Bursa Malaysia’s key index closed higher as bargain-hunting activities emerged in banking and plantation heavyweights following the recent pullback.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices ended broadly higher as investor sentiment improved following a sharp decline in Brent crude oil prices amid easing West Asia tensions.
At the time of writing, Brent crude was down 7.93% to US$89.22 (RM364.51) per barrel.
“The retreat in oil prices helped alleviate concerns over inflation and potential supply disruptions, encouraging investors to rotate back into risk assets,” he told Bernama.
Despite today’s rebound, he maintained a cautious near-term outlook on the local market.
He said investors are also likely to remain selective ahead of key US economic data, major technology companies’ earnings and the upcoming US Federal Reserve policy decision.
The US economic data provides advance estimates for the second-quarter 2026 gross domestic product and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation data for June 2026, both to be released on July 30.
“We, therefore, expect the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to remain range-bound between 1,700 and 1,730 for the week, with volatility likely to persist as geopolitical developments continue to drive market sentiment,” he said.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI jumped 12.07 points to 1,713.09 from last Friday’s close of 1,701.02.
The benchmark index, which opened 2.63 points firmer at 1,703.65, moved between 1,702.35 and 1,718.31 during today’s trading.
In the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers 547 to 531, while 563 counters were unchanged, 1,132 untraded, and 53 suspended.
Turnover fell to 2.86 billion units valued at RM2.24 billion from 3.03 billion units valued at RM2.3 billion on Friday.
Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group rose 12 sen to RM7.80, Public Bank gained seven sen to RM5.18, Tenaga Nasional added 10 sen to RM14.46, Maybank advanced 12 sen to RM10.90, and Telekom Malaysia surged 15 sen to RM7.70.
Of the most active stocks, SNS Network Technology increased 4.5 sen to 56 sen, Aimax was unchanged at one sen, and Tanco Holdings lost 1.5 sen to 24.5 sen. Meanwhile, VS Industry and Zetrix AI slid 1.5 sen each to 23 sen and 68.5 sen, respectively.
Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries climbed 98 sen to RM46.06, Nestlé advanced 68 sen to RM91.30, Batu Kawan soared 38 sen to RM21.18, Petronas Gas increased 30 sen to RM17.70, and Kelington rose 20 sen to RM8.21.
Fraser & Neave led the losers, falling 46 sen to RM27.84, while United Plantations lost 42 sen to RM33, Ideal Capital decreased 24 sen to RM3.75, and Dutch Lady Milk Industries and Chin Teck Plantations erased 18 sen each to RM31.82 and RM11.16, respectively.
Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Index gained 73.64 points to 12,663.18, the FBMT 100 Index notched up 79.71 points to 12,491.67, the FBM Mid 70 Index added 79.18 points to 17,970.02, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 42.61 points to 12,486.86, while the FBM ACE Index eased eight points to 4,918.87.
By sector, the financial services index strengthened 183.56 points to 20,240.67, but the energy index trimmed 4.49 points to 769.34, the industrial products and services index edged down 1.02 points to 186.84, and the plantation index slipped 16.47 points to 9,284.51.
The Main Market volume declined to 1.53 billion units valued at RM1.96 billion compared to 1.73 billion units valued at RM2.06 billion on Friday.
Warrants turnover grew to 868.06 million units worth RM144.18 million versus 745.36 million units worth RM92.85 million previously.
The ACE Market volume shrank to 461.04 million units valued at RM157.34 million from 556.89 million units valued at RM149.98 million last Friday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 144.9 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (337.99 million), construction (73.75 million), technology (423.46 million), financial services (71.21 million), property (212.02 million), plantation (26.44 million), real estate investment trusts (18.82 million), closed-end fund (410,200), energy (105.55 million), healthcare (49.83 million), telecommunications and media (21.57 million), transportation and logistics (28.94 million), utilities (16.64 million), and business trusts (126,300).
