KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 4): Bursa Malaysia continues its uptrend at the close on Thursday due to increased interest from retail and repositioning of portfolios by institutional and foreign investors, analysts said. 

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) jumped 1.01% or 14.89 points to 1,477.26 from Wednesday’s close of 1,462.37.

Turnover surged to 6.37 billion units worth RM3.82 billion from 5.63 billion units worth RM3.12 billion on Wednesday.

Thursday's turnover was the highest in over a year, since Nov 24, 2022 when the market recorded 6.86 billion units turnover. 

The benchmark index opened 0.48 of a point higher at 1,462.85 and moved between 1,461.03 and 1,477.56 throughout the trading session.

On the broader market, gainers beat losers 630 to 424, while 444 counters were unchanged, 722 untraded and 16 others suspended.

Regionally, the Jakarta Stock Exchange also went up 1.11%, while the Philippine Stock Exchange rose 1.59%, as foreign funds poured into Southeast Asia.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said there was strong buying in YTL Power International Bhd and YTL Corp Bhd, driven by robust earnings from their Singapore power business and optimistic expectations in the data centre sector, while interest in blue chips such as Tenaga Nasional Bhd and Maybank Bhd remains strong.

Meanwhile, other key regional markets finished mostly lower following a negative cue from Wall Street overnight.

The spotlight, Thong said, would now be on the forthcoming US jobs data on Friday, especially after the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) December meeting minutes hinted that rates might persist at restrictive levels for an extended period.

On the domestic front, the benchmark has successfully breached the 1,465 resistance line.

“If it can sustain this breakout for an extended period, we are optimistic that the FBM KLCI is well-positioned for further advancement.

“For the time being, we anticipate the index to trend within the range of 1,465-1,480 towards the weekend. From a technical point of view, we spot the next resistance at 1,500 with support at 1,450,” Thong said. 

Among the heavyweights, YTL Power International soared 20 sen to RM3 and YTL Corp was four sen higher at RM2.05, Tenaga Nasional accumulated 36 sen to RM10.42, Maybank surged 14 sen to RM9.03, Axiata Group Bhd gained 11 sen to RM2.49 and Hong Leong Bank Bhd rose 38 sen to RM18.88.

Of the actives, Minetech Resources Bhd rose 3.5 sen to 21 sen, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd eased half a sen to 2.5 sen, while Ekovest Bhd increased a sen to 55 sen, Asdion Bhd climbed 3.5 sen to 14 sen and BSL Corp Bhd added half a sen to 4.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM ACE Index expanded 20.39 points to 5,387.89, the FBM Emas Index increased 101.21 points to 11,004.14 and the FBMT 100 Index garnered 99.16 points to 10,655.17.

The FBM 70 Index jumped 104.73 points to 14,875.91 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 85.79 points to 11,1167.69.

Sector-wise, the Property Index added 17.46 points to 915.37, the Energy Index gained 13.65 points to 834.49 and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.66 of a point to 177.1.

The Financial Services Index surged 154.65 points to 16,465.2 and the Plantation Index grew by 24.93 points to 7,037.57.

The Main Market volume expanded to 4.44 billion units worth RM3.43 billion against 3.79 billion units valued at RM1.63 billion on Wednesday.  

Warrants turnover increased to 770.91 million units valued at RM92.22 million from 637.23 million units worth RM74.37 million previously. 

The ACE Market volume narrowed to 1.12 billion shares worth RM297.69 million versus 1.18 billion shares valued at RM299.76 million on Wednesday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 569.47 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.21 billion); construction (373.14 million); technology (653.73 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (76.56 million); property (618.03 million); plantation (54.59 million); REITs (13.78 million), closed/fund (30,000); energy (166.57 million); healthcare (204.17 million); telecommunications and media (47.97 million); transportation and logistics (202.31 million); and utilities (247.81 million).