KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia rebounded to close higher on Wednesday on selective buying of defensive stocks after a volatile trading session. IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said consumer products and services stocks lifted the key index higher, overcoming lingering geopolitical concerns. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.08 points to 1,715.56 from yesterday’s close of 1,712.48. The benchmark index, which opened 1.91 points higher at 1,714.39, moved between 1,710.79 and 1,720.59 during the day’s trading. In the broader market, gainers outstripped decliners 550 to 476, while 612 counters were unchanged, 1,129 untraded, and 48 suspended. Turnover rose to 2.96 billion units valued at RM2.48 billion from 2.94 billion units valued at RM2.56 billion on Tuesday.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved Nasdaq Inc's application to list options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF , marking a significant step toward the trading of derivatives tied to the product. The ETF, trading under the ticker IBIT , is the largest fund investing directly in Bitcoin , with US$22.7 billion in assets. Before trading can begin, the contracts still require approval from the Options Clearing Corp and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) . Other exchanges have also applied to list options on the iShares fund and other spot-Bitcoin ETFs . “Getting the SEC to come around is a big step toward listing options, which can attract larger investors and bring more liquidity to the ETFs,” said Eric Balchunas , an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. The approval follows a long legal battle led by Grayscale Investments , another major player in the crypto fund space, leading to broader acceptance of Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year.