Bursa Malaysia ends higher on Budget 2025 optimism

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 4.55 points or 0.27 per cent to 1,645.99 from Thursday's close of 1,641.44.

The benchmark index, which opened 1.85 points higher at 1,643.29, moved between 1,641.71 and 1,649.31 throughout the trading session.

Market breadth was positive, with advancers outpacing decliners 598 to 396, while 556 counters remained unchanged, 942 untraded, and 19 suspended.

Turnover narrowed to 2.52 billion units worth RM2.16 billion versus 2.68 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Thursday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said regional markets also posted gains as investors reacted positively to China's robust economic data and the announcement of new stock buyback programme details from its central bank.

He said data from the world's second-largest economy indicated that the decline in home prices eased last month, signalling that Beijing's supportive policies may be starting to show results.

"On the local front, we expect the benchmark index to retain its sideways consolidation and is likely to trade between 1,645 and 1,665 next week," he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, YTL Corporation rose 6.0 sen to RM2.32, Axiata was up by 5.0 sen to RM2.40, Genting Malaysia increased 4.0 sen to RM2.32, Press Metal gained 8.0 sen to RM4.80, and Genting added 6.0 sen to RM4.05.

For the active counters, Northeast Group ticked up 4.0 sen to 53 sen, Bina Puri Holdings eased 1.5 sen to 33 sen, WCT Holdings added 1.0 sen to 92.5 sen, MYEG garnered 1.5 sen to 91 sen, and Focus Dynamics was flat at 2.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 43.97 points to 12,367.53 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 59.49 points to 12,276.95.

The FBMT 100 Index perked up 41.83 points to 12,067.57, the FBM 70 Index rose 93.01 points to 17,715.63, and the FBM ACE Index was 28.69 points better at 5,120.80.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 13.32 points to 19,468.56, the Energy Index fell 1.17 points to 854.53, the Plantation Index put on 23.30 points to 7,273.53, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 1.19 points to 176.42.

The Main Market volume declined to 1.19 billion units worth RM1.86 billion from Thursday's 1.66 billion units valued at RM2.93 billion.

Warrants turnover expanded to 867.56 million units valued at RM147.50 million against 853.42 million units worth RM148.88 million previously.

The ACE Market volume surged to 452.73 million units worth RM154.12 million versus 272.28 million units valued at RM83.56 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 196.26 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (205.51 million), construction (149.49 million), technology (132.69 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (58.45 million), property (194.56 million), plantation (21.53 million), REITs (16.44 million), closed/fund (174,900), energy (61.56 million), healthcare (35.01 million), telecommunications and media (20.52 million), transportation and logistics (32.21 million), utilities (73.23 million), and business trusts (1.07 million).

-- BERNAMA