BURSA MALAYSIA RALLIES EARLY, CI TOPS 1,720 LEVEL

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Friday, tracking firmer overnight performance on Wall Street and improved local sentiment ahead of the advance estimate of the fourth-quarter 2025 (4Q2025) gross domestic product (GDP) due later today.

At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 6.32 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 1,721.48 from Thursday’s close of 1,715.16, after opening 2.47 points higher at 1,717.63. The benchmark index also surpassed its previous peak of 1,719.00 recorded on Feb 26, 2019.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering decliners 169 to 85. A total of 272 counters were unchanged, while 2,130 were untraded and 22 suspended.

Turnover stood at 107.72 million shares valued at RM65.45 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street rebounded to close broadly firmer as sentiment improved on artificial intelligence-related stocks, alongside solid earnings from the banking sector, which collectively drove gains across both segments.

Back home, he noted that the FBM KLCI maintained its impressive momentum to close higher yesterday, despite a weak performance earlier in the session.

“We believe foreign funds are continuing to accumulate local equities, as evidenced by net foreign inflows over the past few sessions. As such, we expect the index to hover within the 1,710 to 1,720 range today,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said he remains optimistic that economic growth for 4Q 2025 will come in at around five per cent, which would place full-year 2025 expansion at approximately 4.8 per cent, reinforcing the case for a resilient and domestically driven recovery.

Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank gained one sen to RM11.20, and Tenaga Nasional rose six sen to RM13.98. Public Bank fell one sen to RM4.74, while CIMB and IHH were flat at RM8.45 and RM8.43 respectively.

On the most active list, Northeast increased 4.5 sen to 64 sen, and HHRG added one sen to 7.5 sen. TWL was flat at 2.5 sen, while MMAG inched down half-a-sen to 4.5 sen, and NexG dropped two sen to 29.5 sen.

Top gainers included Nestle, which expanded RM1.50 to RM117.50, Petronas Gas jumped 34 sen to RM18.96, Malaysian Pacific advanced 28 sen to RM33.98, Batu Kawan strengthened 24 sen to RM20.26 and Alliance Bank firmed 13 sen to RM5.59.

Leading decliners were Malayan Cement, down 11 sen to RM7.72, Telekom Malaysia, MNRB, Westports and Kellington decreased four sen each to RM7.71, RM2.25, RM6.08, and RM5.51 respectively.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index advanced 41.59 points to 12,698.23, the FBM Top 100 Index expanded 43.20 points to 12,493.22, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 39.58 points to 12,366.64.

The FBM Mid 70 Index gained 49.37 points to 17,734.93, and the FBM ACE Index added 10.64 points to 4,976.60.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index firmed 83.98 points to 20,788.26, the Energy Index inched up 0.17 of-a-point to 786.60, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.08 of-a-point to 174.81, and the Plantation Index ticked up 1.88 points to 8,450.91.

-- BERNAMA