KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 — Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index rebounded from earlier losses to close at its intraday high on Wednesday, gaining 0.27 per cent in late trading as buying interest returned to selected heavyweights.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 4.48 points to 1,676.83 from Tuesday’s close of 1,672.35.

The benchmark index opened 0.88 of-a-point lower at 1,671.47 and subsequently hit a low of 1,665.94 during the mid-morning session before gaining momentum toward closing. 

On the broader market, losers led gainers by 565 to 512, while some 526 counters were unchanged, 1,046 untraded, and 10 suspended.

Turnover improved to 2.73 billion units worth RM2.76 billion versus Tuesday’s 2.66 billion units worth RM2.76 billion.  

Dealers said that investors were cautious following geopolitical developments in Asia. 

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said investors were adopting a wait-and-see approach, rather than reacting sharply to regional geopolitical headlines, as tensions between China and Japan over chip-related trade measures have added a mild risk premium across parts of Asia.

He noted that the developments were not severe enough to trigger broad-based selling in Malaysian equities, with the dominant driver remaining US macro data. Markets are focused on whether this week’s employment and services reports will support expectations for at least two Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.

“Until that data confirms the policy outlook, local investors appear content to trim exposure and protect gains, keeping the FBM KLCI slightly lower (earlier in the day) but within recent trading ranges,” he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the mid-term uptrend pattern remains intact for the local bourse. 

“Hence, we maintain our weekly FBM KLCI target at the 1,660-1,690 range, pending the emergence of new catalysts,” he added. 

Of the heavyweight counters, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.53, CIMB advanced seven sen to RM8.06, Tenaga Nasional climbed 12 asen to RM13.70, Press Metal appreciated five sen to RM7.11, Maybank shed two sen to RM10.68, and IHH Healthcare declined seven sen to RM8.58. 

On the most active list, SN Network surged 10 sen to 64.5 sen, Zetrix AI rose half-a-sen to 81.5 sen, Tanco rose one sen to RM1.20, IJM soared 20 sen to RM2.74, OCR was flat at 4.5 sen, and Capital A shed four sen to 40.5 sen. 

Among the top gainers, Nestle climbed RM1.70 to RM122.0, BLD Plantation rose by RM1.18 to RM15.80, United Plantations garnered 96 sen to RM31.44, and Hong Leong Industries went up 38 sen to RM16.66.

Of the top decliners, Hong Leong Financial Group slipped 32 sen to RM18.96, Dutch Lady was 26 sen easier at RM30.62, Allianz Malaysia slid 22 sen to RM20.18 and Kelington declined 21 sen to RM4.76.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 32.28 points to 12,360.10, the FBM Top 100 Index gained 32.32 points to 12,151.95, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed 37.16 points to 12,166.75.

The FBM Mid 70 Index rose 45.02 points to 17,173.20 and the FBM ACE Index added 13.41 points to 4,964.31.  

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index perked up 3.57 points to 19,774.19, the Energy Index edged up 2.37 points to 769.65, the Plantation Index jumped 106.83 points to 8,397.94, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.09 of-a-point to 172.46.

The Main Market volume improved to 1.52 billion units worth RM2.49 billion against Tuesday’s 1.44 billion units worth RM2.42 billion.  

Warrants turnover expanded to 898.30 million units worth RM115.32 million from 743.56 million units worth RM101.86 million yesterday. 

The ACE Market volume slipped to 312.54 million units worth RM154.97 million from 480.04 million units valued at RM230.29 million previously. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 275.17 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (278.12 million), construction (153.0 million), technology (260.03 million), financial services (95.50 million), property (155.42 million), plantation (22.97 million), real estate investment trusts (23.26 million), closed-end fund (115,800), energy (86.16 million), healthcare (67.92 million), telecommunications and media (30.22 million), transportation and logistics (43.97 million), utilities (25.51 million), and business trusts (210,600). — Bernama