KUALA LUMPUR: Late buying interest lifted Bursa Malaysia to a slightly higher close on Wednesday, reversing earlier losses and bucking the mixed performance across regional markets.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 0.68 of a point to 1,683.61 from Tuesday's close of 1,682.93.
The benchmark index opened 3.05 points higher at 1,685.98 and moved between 1,679.30 and 1,690.57 throughout the session.
However, market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 627 to 480, while 506 counters were unchanged, 1,078 untraded, and 11 suspended.
Turnover improved to 2.96 billion units valued at RM2.18 billion from 2.69 billion units valued at RM2.06 billion on Tuesday.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the local market was under pressure throughout the session as investors reacted to higher crude oil prices after the United States launched fresh airstrikes on Iranian military targets and revoked Iran's oil export waiver, heightening concerns over potential supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz.
"While risk appetite remained subdued across much of Asia, late institutional buying lifted the local benchmark into positive territory.
"This underscores the resilient domestic sentiment even as investors continue to monitor geopolitical developments, their implications for energy prices, inflation expectations, and the global interest rate outlook," he told Bernama.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank and Public Bank rose two sen each to RM10.94 and RM4.93, respectively, CIMB gained four sen to RM7.64, Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.30, while IHH Healthcare dropped six sen to RM8.32.
Among active stocks, both Zetrix AI and Pentech eased half a sen to 75 sen and 27.5 sen, respectively. AirAsia X shed four sen to RM1.14, Nationgate lost 3.5 sen to 80 sen, while GIIB inched up half a sen to 50.5 sen.
Among the top gainers, United Plantations garnered 60 sen to RM34.34, Allianz Malaysia gained 38 sen to RM20.98, Nestle climbed 30 sen to RM91.10, Petronas Chemicals advanced 22 sen to RM4.47, while Ayer Holdings was 15 sen higher at RM7.35.
UMS Integration led the losers, falling 32 sen to RM7.80, Petronas Gas dipped 28 sen to RM17.52, Hong Leong Industries shrank 26 sen to RM18.68, Pentamaster erased 19 sen to RM4.54, and Press Metal Aluminium gave up 17 sen to RM7.50.