BURSA MALAYSIA EXTENDS GAINS, HOLDS NEAR 15-MONTH HIGH ON YEAR-END WINDOW DRESSING

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia advanced on Monday, holding near a 15-month high as gains broadly mirrored mostly positive developments across regional markets, with year-end window dressing continuing to provide support.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.39 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 1,671.29, marking its intraday high, from Friday’s close of 1,665.90.

The index opened 1.62 points lower at 1,664.28 and slipped to its intraday low in early trading. The market then traded choppily before gaining momentum in the afternoon session and trending higher toward the close.

The broader market was positive with gainers beating decliners 520 versus 515. A further 551 counters were unchanged, 1,193 untraded and 16 suspended.

Turnover slipped to 2.36 billion units worth RM1.98 billion from 2.75 billion units worth RM3.08 billion on Friday.

Berjaya Research Sdn Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong said the FBM KLCI is expected to trade within a modestly positive to neutral range, supported by stabilising regional sentiment and selective buying in key heavyweight counters.

“Investors will be keeping a close watch on the second reading of the United States’ (US) third-quarter 2025 gross domestic product data slated to be released tomorrow to gauge the health of the world’s largest economy,” he told Bernama.

Echoing Leong’s statement, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices finished mostly higher, tracking tech-driven gains on Wall Street last Friday.

He said expectations of a year-end rally improved as bargain hunters emerged late last week, lifting equities from a decline caused by doubts surrounding artificial intelligence-driven optimism and uncertainty over the extent of the US Federal Reserve rate cuts.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added four sen to RM10.48, Public Bank gained one sen to RM4.53, Tenaga Nasional rose 18 sen to RM13.54, and IHH Healthcare increased 10 sen to RM8.62, while CIMB was flat at RM8.15.

On the most active list, Pharmaniaga, Zetrix AI and Tanco were all flat at 28 sen, 80.5 sen and RM1.13, respectively. V.S. Industry lost one sen to 48 sen, while Dagang NeXchange increased 1.5 sen to 31 sen.

Among top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries firmed 38 sen to RM32.58, Malayan Cement added 33 sen to RM7.23, Hong Leong Financial was 32 sen firmer at RM18.58, while Hong Leong Industries and Coastal Contracts added 20 sen each to RM16.70 and RM1.42, respectively.

As for top losers, Nestle decreased RM1.40 to RM114.90, Dutch Lady fell 40 sen to RM30.10, Far East dipped 39 sen to RM4.06, while Fraser & Neave slid 32 sen to RM36.0.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index increased 31.11 points to 12,264.19, the FBM Top 100 Index rose 31.69 points to 12,062.44, the FBM ACE Index added 11.02 points to 4,825.90, the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 36.71 points to 12,062.41, and the FBM 70 Index climbed 11.54 points to 16,824.73.

By sector, the Financial Services Index put on 59.89 points to 19,621.64, the Plantation Index fell 54.60 points to 8,236.56, and the Energy Index slipped 2.80 points to 766.18, and the Industrial Products and Services Index perked up 2.24 points to 172.63.

The Main Market volume slipped to 1.23 billion units worth RM1.77 billion from 1.66 billion units worth RM2.85 billion on Friday.

Warrants turnover expanded to 849.32 million units worth RM100.87 million against 794.27 million units worth RM99.54 million previously.

The ACE Market volume declined to 277.20 million units valued at RM106.49 million versus 302.31 million units valued at RM128.77 million last Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 197.47 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (206.08 million), construction (79.17 million), technology (214.99 million), financial services (63.76 million), property (133.33 million), plantation (20.05 million), real estate investment trusts (16.94 million), closed-end fund (9,000), energy (90.94 million), healthcare (127.07 million), telecommunications and media (29.66 million), transportation and logistics (30.18 million), utilities (24.52 million), and business trusts (143,600).

-- BERNAMA