UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Sedek Jantan said optimism in the local market was further boosted by the formalisation of the Johor-Singapore special economic zone (JS-SEZ), signed earlier today by the leaders of Malaysia and Singapore.
Additionally, he said local and regional markets are expected to remain buoyant following the People’s Bank of China’s (PBOC) announcement of its intention to adopt a moderately loose monetary policy in 2025.
Among FBM KLCI components, stocks that are poised to benefit from the JS-SEZ – including those in the construction, property, and utilities sectors – led the gainers.
“These advances also propelled the Bursa construction index to surge by over 3% and the Bursa technology index to gain 1.61% to top the sectoral gainers,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said market participants are closely evaluating the potential implications of policy shifts under the administration of incoming president Donald Trump, whose term is set to commence soon.
“In addition, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will release minutes from its last policy meeting, where it cut its main interest rate for a third straight time,” he added.
At 5pm, the market bellwether increased 4.32 points or 0.26% to 1,629.79 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,625.47.
The index opened 0.97 of-a-point lower at 1,624.50 and moved between 1,624.50 and 1,634.27 throughout the day.
However, the broader market was negative with losers outpacing gainers 614 to 490, while 537 counters were unchanged, 712 untraded, and 10 others suspended.
Turnover improved to 3.91 billion units valued at RM3.29 billion against yesterday’s 3.47 billion units valued at RM2.66 billion.
Among the heavyweights, Gamuda added 34 sen to RM5.20, Petronas Dagangan gained 22 sen to RM20.04, Public Bank was flat at RM3.65, while Petronas Gas and QL Resources were 2 sen lower at RM17.76 and RM4.68 respectively.
For active stocks, Bumi Armada rose 2 sen to 68.5 sen, Nationgate soared 19 sen to RM2.95, and Sime Darby Property was up 4 sen to RM1.73, while Zen Tech and Talam Transform were flat at 1 sen and 2.5 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index jumped 25.68 points to 12,546.84, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 16.5 points to 12,553.89, and the FBMT 100 Index climbed 30.4 points to 12,219.11, the FBM 70 Index increased 39.89 points to 18,943.51, and the FBM ACE Index fell 29.17 points to 5,465.97.
By sector, the industrial products and services index added 0.68 of-a-point to 175.19, the energy index perked up 3.45 points to 858.72, the financial services index garnered 62.35 points to 19,036.69, and the plantation index soared 45.58 points to 7,608.80.
The Main Market volume trimmed to 1.87 billion units worth RM2.96 billion against yesterday’s 1.92 billion units worth RM2.38 billion.
Warrants turnover expanded to 1.55 billion units valued at RM158.81 million versus 1.05 billion units valued at RM99.53 million previously.
The ACE Market volume dwindled to 487.74 million units worth RM177.77 million from 505.9 million units worth RM174.65 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 195.1 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (453.82 million), construction (206.58 million), technology (289.29 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (73.73 million), property (260.1 million), plantation (35.98 million), REITs (14.52 million), closed/fund (17,900), energy (103.44 million), healthcare (121.21 million), telecommunications and media (40.45 million), transportation and logistics (34.56 million), utilities (42.41 million), and business trusts (629,300).