Market Daily Report: Bursa Malaysia Ends Higher, Extends Gains On Improving Sentiment After US Tariff Update

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the first trading day of the week higher, maintaining its momentum from last week amid improving investor sentiment following the latest United States tariff announcements.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.15 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 1,757.98, compared with Friday’s close of 1,752.83.

The benchmark index had opened 4.14 points higher at 1,756.97, and moved between 1,752.48 and 1,760.03 throughout the trading session.

The broader market was positive, with gainers outpacing losers 584 to 520, while 537 counters remained unchanged. A total of 1,139 counters remained untraded and 24 were suspended.

Turnover widened to 2.47 billion units worth RM2.65 billion compared to 2.03 billion units worth RM2.20 billion last Friday.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said sentiment strengthened as investors took comfort from clearer indications that the United States tariff landscape has shifted away from abrupt, country-specific escalation towards a more temporary and neutral framework.

“The halting of previous tariff collections deemed illegal by the US Supreme Court, alongside the adoption of a time-bound 15 per cent interim tariff, helped ease immediate downside risks for Malaysia’s export sector and supported early buying interest, despite lingering global policy and geopolitical uncertainties,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Public Bank gained five sen to RM5.08, CIMB Group added one sen to RM8.50 and IHH Healthcare advanced 16 sen to RM9.00, while Maybank slipped two sen to RM12.20 and Tenaga Nasional eased two sen to RM14.14.

On the most active list, Tanco rose two sen to RM1.48, while Astro Malaysia fell 1.5 sen to 8.5 sen, Zetrix AI eased half-a-sen to 83 sen, OCR was flat at 4.5 sen and Velesto edged lower half-a-sen to 31 sen.

Top gainers included Nestle, which jumped RM2.70 to RM112.40, Malaysian Pacific Industries was up 44 sen to RM31.02, United Plantations rose 32 sen to RM30.32, PPB Group gained 30 sen to RM11.16 and KESM Industries adding 20 sen to RM3.05.

Top losers included Malayan Cement, which declined 29 sen to RM8.40, Hong Leong Industries was down 20 sen to RM18.90, Press Metal shaved 17 sen to RM7.53, Petronas Chemicals slid 16 sen to RM3.29 and UMS Integration fell 15 sen to RM4.00.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index gained 40.66 points to 12,708.55, the FBM Emas Index added 39.93 points to 12,886.71, the FBM Mid 70 Index advanced 72.47 points to 17,818.17, the FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 48.76 points to 12,417.05, and the FBM ACE Index inched up 26.56 points to 4,848.68.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 36.04 points to 21,651.71, the Plantation Index gained 69.32 points to 8,489.31, while the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 2.53 points to 175.53, and the Energy Index declined 5.58 points to 770.30.

The Main Market volume increased to 1.39 billion units worth RM2.44 billion from 1.27 billion units worth RM2.04 billion last Friday.

Warrant turnover rose to 825.20 million units worth RM89.36 million from 514.93 million units worth RM62.36 million previously.

The ACE Market volume perked up to 256.43 million units valued at RM114.12 million from 248.54 million units valued at RM95.89 million last week.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 215.48 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (204.46 million), construction (134.90 million), technology (148.98 million), financial services (106.13 million), property (163.34 million), plantation (21.97 million), real estate investment trusts (18.50 million), closed-end fund (21,400), energy (108.91 million), healthcare (86.48 million), telecommunications and media (117.83 million), transportation and logistics (26.80 million), utilities (32.22 million), and business trusts (519,100).

Source: Bernama