At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged up 2.13 points to 1,750.39, after opening 1.84 points lower at 1,746.42, compared with yesterday’s close of 1,748.26.
On the broader market, both gainers and losers were flat at 168, while 304 counters were unchanged. A total of 1,995 counters were untraded, and six suspended.
Market turnover stood at 156.18 million shares valued at RM88.01 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said that in view of Wall Street’s lacklustre overnight performance, it expects the FBM KLCI to follow suit.
“However, a favourable United States-Malaysia interest rate differential and positive foreign inflows should support the ringgit, which bodes well for the banking and consumer segments.
“Hence, we believe Public Bank Bhd, which has lagged behind other banking stocks, provides exposure to the latter, while 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd and Life Water Bhd are proxies for the Visit Malaysia 2026 theme, alongside an anticipated lower input-cost environment,” it said in a research note today.
It noted that, in addition to Sabah being a strategic tourism destination, Life Water’s forward price-to-earnings ratio remains discounted relative to Spritzer Bhd, providing ample room for near-term upside.
Among the heavyweight counters, CIMB added 6.0 sen to RM8.62, Tenaga Nasional gained 4.0 sen to RM14.16, IHH Healthcare edged up 2.0 sen to RM8.90, while Maybank and Public Bank were flat at RM11.94 and RM4.95, respectively.
On the most active list, Pharmaniaga inched up half-a-sen to 33 sen, MLABS Systems decreased 1.5 sen to 3.0 sen, TWL Holdings was half-a-sen lower at 2.0 sen, while Malaysian Resources Corporation and Pegasus Heights were flat at 34 sen and half-a-sen respectively.
Top gainers included United Plantations, which advanced 12 sen to RM29.30, GuocoLand (Malaysia) was 10.5 sen firmer at RM1.04, and Malayan Cement expanded 10 sen to RM8.35. Alliance Bank Malaysia gained 6.0 sen to RM5.31, and Sunway Construction Group widened 6.0 sen to RM5.31.
Among leading decliners, Petronas Gas fell 24 sen to RM18.30, Petronas Dagangan slipped 8.0 sen to RM20.24, and UWC slid 7.0 sen to RM4.33, while MNRB Holdings and PPB Group shrank 6.0 sen each to RM2.40 and RM11.04.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 13.63 points to 12,610.95, the FBM Emas Index recovered 13.0 points to 12,789.41, the FBM Mid 70 Index put on 11.30 points to 17,489.04, but the FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 0.61 of-a-point to 12,296.96, and the FBM ACE Index erased 4.55 points to 4,702.50.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved 45.45 points to 21,569.90, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.10 of-a-point to 177.54, the Plantation Index gained 3.93 points to 8,376.98, and the Energy Index rose 2.55 points to 752.63.