KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 — Bursa Malaysia extended its gains to close higher today, supported by strength in telecommunications stocks and a rebound in heavyweight banking counters, which kept the benchmark index in positive territory despite cautious overall market sentiment.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said investor sentiment remained guarded as market participants awaited key US labour market data for fresh signals on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy direction, while continuing to monitor developments in West Asia for potential geopolitical risks. 

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.0 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 1,661.83 from yesterday’s close of 1,656.83.

The benchmark index opened 1.99 points higher at 1,658.82 and moved between 1,657.77 and 1,666.26 throughout the session.

Market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 639 to 426, while 507 counters were unchanged, 1,069 untraded, and 15 suspended.

Turnover climbed to 2.70 billion units valued at RM2.00 billion from 2.51 billion units valued at RM2.26 billion yesterday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said bargain hunting in selected blue-chip counters helped lift the benchmark index from oversold levels.

“Although foreign fund outflows remain a headwind, attractive valuations are beginning to draw selective buying interest.

“In the near term, market sentiment is likely to remain cautious as investors monitor developments in the technology sector, geopolitical events and global monetary policy,” he told Bernama.

However, Thong said the recent pullback has improved the market’s risk-reward profile, which should help cushion downside risks.

“We expect the FBM KLCI to remain range-bound between 1,650 and 1,670 towards the weekend,” he added.

Among the heavyweight stocks, Maybank rose eight sen to RM10.74, Public Bank improved nine sen to RM4.84, Tenaga Nasional gained six sen to RM14.26, CIMB perked up three sen to RM7.45, while IHH slipped 13 sen to RM8.17.

For active counters, Zetrix AI added 1.5 sen to 78 sen, Pentech bagged one sen to 30.5 sen, while Tanco was flat at 17.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange eased one sen to 44 sen, and Silver Ridge edged down half a sen to 17 sen.

On the gainers’ list, United Plantations garnered 50 sen to RM33.48, Nestle rose 24 sen to RM92.00, Telekom Malaysia put on 14 sen to RM7.47, F&N climbed 16 sen to RM28.10, and PPB increased 17 sen to RM9.33.

Among the decliners, Malaysian Pacific Industries slid 94 sen to RM48.06, Vitrox fell 17 sen to RM7.72, Chin Teck dropped 14 sen to RM10.92, Malayan Cement lost 15 sen to RM6.18, and Pentamaster erased 12 sen to RM4.82.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index ticked up 1.55 points to 12,350.67, the FBM Top 100 Index added 4.21 points to 12,179.63, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 35.67 points to 12,205.05.

The FBM Mid 70 Index sank 131.68 points to 17,784.69 and the FBM ACE Index shed 15.29 points to 4,853.45.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index surged 140.46 points to 19,626.23, the Plantation Index rose 45.36 points to 8,888.40, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.94 of a point to 179.45, and the Energy Index lost 6.89 points to 749.66.

The Main Market volume slid to 1.17 billion units valued at RM1.70 billion compared with 1.37 billion units valued at RM2.00 billion on Wednesday.

Warrants turnover swelled to 1.05 billion units worth RM130.35 million versus 643.76 million units worth RM70.74 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume declined to 463.33 million units valued at RM164.33 million from 496.33 million units valued at RM185.67 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 190.42 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (204.39 million), construction (88.84 million), technology (260.50 million), financial services (41.88 million), property (158.47 million), plantation (12.06 million), real estate investment trusts (12.22 million), closed-end fund (22,500), energy (66.16 million), healthcare (59.12 million), telecommunications and media (25.88 million), transportation and logistics (28.01 million), utilities (31.52 million), and business trusts (124,400). — Bernama