At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.98 points, or 0.11%, to 1,758.85 from yesterday’s close of 1,756.87.
The benchmark index, which opened 5.94 points higher at 1,762.81, moved between 1,758.42 and 1,768.46 during the day.
Market breadth was positive, with gainers beating losers 660 to 582. A total of 592 counters were unchanged, 817 untraded, and nine suspended.
Turnover eased to 3.75 billion units worth RM4.21 billion compared with 3.98 billion units worth RM3.97 billion yesterday.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Sedek Jantan said BNM’s decision to maintain the OPR signals confidence in domestic demand resilience, while acknowledging rising downside risks from external shocks, particularly geopolitical tensions and commodity price volatility.
“The policy stance effectively validates the market’s current positioning, with a preference for domestically insulated earnings streams amid an uncertain global backdrop,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI pared earlier session gains due to late profit-taking but managed to finish in the green.
“Key regional indices trended higher as growing optimism over a potential US-Iran peace deal lifted sentiment across risk-driven markets.
“Regional bourses also took cues from Wall Street’s strong overnight performance, driven mainly by gains in technology and chip-related stocks,” he said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM11.26, Public Bank gained 10 sen to RM4.89, CIMB Group rose 11 sen to RM8.04, Hong Leong Bank expanded 48 sen to RM22.60, Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.80, and IHH Healthcare improved three sen to RM8.88.
On the most active list, Zetrix AI eased 0.5 sen to 86.5 sen, Pegasus Heights was unchanged at 0.5 sen, AirAsia X gained five sen to RM1.30, Capital A rose one sen to 44.5 sen, and SMRT Holdings added two sen to 22 sen.
Top gainers included Nestle, which surged RM3.20 to RM104.10, Fraser & Neave advanced 92 sen to RM30.02, Allianz Malaysia climbed 62 sen to RM21.42, UMS Integration rose 54 sen to RM7.37, and Malayan Cement added 47 sen to RM7.14.
Top losers included Petronas Chemicals, which fell 59 sen to RM5.28, MISC fell 31 sen to RM8.37, Gas Malaysia declined 20 sen to RM5.30, Malaysian Pacific Industries dropped 18 sen to RM41.22, and Bintulu Port shed 15 sen to RM5.50.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 17.24 points to 12,980.73, the FBMT 100 Index gained 19.35 points to 12,826.74, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 62.14 points to 12,863.13, the FBM Mid 70 Index improved 48.75 points to 18,457.09, and the FBM ACE Index added 3.74 points to 4,665.74.
By sector, the financial services index climbed 237.21 points to 20,473.43, the industrial products and services index slid 3.10 points to 194.42, the energy index dropped 19.93 points to 811.86, and the plantation index declined 30.20 points to 8,937.77.
The Main Market volume decreased to 2.11 billion units valued at RM3.92 billion from 2.28 billion units valued at RM3.64 billion on Wednesday.
Warrants turnover expanded to 1.24 billion units worth RM172.75 million from 1.21 billion units worth RM166.34 million previously.
The ACE Market volume eased to 419.93 million units valued at RM147.55 million from 497.99 million units valued at RM166.82 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 295.23 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (343.55 million), construction (178.33 million), technology (344.2 million), financial services (145.18 million), property (296.41 million), plantation (38.18 million), real estate investment trusts (20.77 million), closed-end fund (96,300), energy (225.85 million), healthcare (81.51 million), telecommunications and media (28.14 million), transportation and logistics (44.55 million), utilities (77.69 million), and business trusts (320,900).