Bursa rises on Wall Street gains and easing oil prices

2026-03-05 - 02:04

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened higher on Thursday, tracking positive overnight Wall Street performance as easing oil prices and upbeat economic data soothed concerns over the US-Iran geopolitical crisis. At 9.16am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.86 points, or 0.22%, to 1,702.08 from Wednesday’s close of 1,698.22, after opening 8.03 points higher at 1,706.25. Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 318 to 151, while 314 counters were unchanged, 1,839 untraded and 11 suspended. Turnover stood at 233.52 million shares worth RM159.55 million. Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said buying interest was likely to continue, with banking heavyweights remaining in focus. The favourable US-Malaysia rate differential and a stronger ringgit should benefit banking assets. The brokerage also expects crude oil prices to stabilise above US$80 per barrel in the near term, potentially supporting upstream oil and gas players such as Hibiscus. “We anticipate sustained buying interest in Velesto following several project wins. While clients are increasingly procuring solar materials and ATAP payback periods remain longer, solar contractors now offer value, with LSS packages continuing as a key focus,” it said in a research note today. Among heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare rose four sen each to RM11.70, RM4.88 and RM9.00, respectively, while Hong Leong Bank was flat at RM23.06 and CIMB eased one sen to RM7.94. On the most active list, NexG rose 3.5 sen to 30.5 sen, Capital A edged up half-a-sen to 50.5 sen. Pharmaniaga and Capital A were flat at 27.5 sen and 18 sen, respectively, while Bumi Armada fell half-a-sen to 35 sen and Hengyuan Refining Company declined two sen to RM1.52. Top gainers included Nestle, which advanced RM1.50 to RM108.50, Malaysian Pacific Industries up 56 sen to RM31.06, United Plantations gained 16 sen to RM30.36, and Malayan Cement added 14 sen to RM8.26. Top losers were Ajinomoto and Hong Leong Industries, each down eight sen to RM13.40 and RM17.30, while TNB slipped six sen to RM14.10. On the index board, the FBM T100 Index rose 35.76 points to 12,302.42, the FBM Emas Index gained 36.23 points to 12,470.70, the FBM 70 Index added 85.40 points to 17,239.66, the FBM Emas Shariah Index grew 29.76 points to 12,118.00, and the FBM ACE Index climbed 27.80 points to 4,533.62. By sector, the Financial Services Index added 65.69 points to 20,834.47, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 1.20 points to 172.92, the Energy Index gained 1.60 points to 788.21, and the Plantation Index increased 11.06 points to 8,149.72.