KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — Bursa Malaysia ended higher on Thursday as easing US Treasury yields improved risk appetite following the US Treasury’s announcement of increased buyback operations, an analyst said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 5.39 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 1,736.71 compared with Wednesday’s close of 1,731.32.
The benchmark index opened 0.79 of a point higher at 1,732.11, and fluctuated between 1,732.11 and 1,739.13 throughout the day.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 610 to 577, while 610 counters were unchanged, 1,075 untraded and 16 suspended.
Turnover increased to 4.28 billion units valued at RM4.01 billion from 3.31 billion units valued at RM2.92 billion on Wednesday.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said lower yields helped ease pressure on growth stocks, with technology counters benefitting from renewed investor interest.
“The improvement in global sentiment was reflected across Asian markets, which rebounded sharply as easing US bond-market pressure encouraged investors to return to technology and semiconductor stocks.
“For Bursa Malaysia, the softer yield environment provided some relief after recent pressure on growth stocks, while investors remained selective amid ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell by six sen to RM10.58, Public Bank edged down three sen to RM5.12, while CIMB Group rose seven sen to RM7.98, Tenaga Nasional climbed 10 sen to RM14.50, and IHH Healthcare improved four sen to RM8.34.
On the most active list, IJM Corporation gained 11 sen to RM2.80, NexG inched up five sen to 33 sen, YTL Corporation jumped 21 sen to RM2.43, CBH Engineering Holding put on 5.5 sen to 84.5 sen, while Zetrix AI was half a sen lower at 65 sen.
Among the top gainers, Nestle garnered 80 sen to RM104.80, YTL Power International advanced 28 sen to RM5.16, MN Holdings soared 25 sen to RM3.64, PPB Group perked up 22 sen to RM9.90, and Allianz Malaysia added 18 sen to RM22.28.
As for the top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries erased 80 sen to RM45.30, Hong Leong Industries gave up 38 sen to RM17.58, Petronas Chemicals Group slid 32 sen to RM4.37, Dutch Lady Milk Industries shed 26 sen to RM31.68, and Ayer Holdings lost 20 sen to RM7.30.
Among the broader indices, the FBM Mid 70 Index rose by 39.84 points to 18,174.11, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went up by 23.44 points to 12,658.57, and the FBM Emas Index strengthened by 32.88 points to 12,837.62.
The FBM Top 100 Index gained 36.35 points to 12,656.22 and the FBM ACE Index climbed 26.12 points to 5,328.84.
By sector, the Plantation Index surged 47.27 points to 9,335.16, the Financial Services Index slid 16.86 points to 20,275.48, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped by 2.00 points to 187.55, and the Energy Index trimmed 2.33 points to 775.14.
The Main Market volume expanded to 2.32 billion units valued at RM3.56 billion compared with 1.74 billion units valued at RM2.57 billion on Wednesday.
Warrants turnover increased to 1.25 billion units worth RM159.83 million versus 961.33 million units worth RM137.63 million previously.
The ACE Market volume advanced to 691.33 million units valued at RM281.98 million from 607.41 million units valued at RM216.59 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 276.21 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (366.99 million), construction (334.19 million), technology (558.91 million), financial services (65.38 million), property (224.59 million), plantation (44.12 million), real estate investment trusts (13.17 million), closed-end fund (72,200), energy (105.25 million), healthcare (111.68 million), telecommunications and media (25.69 million), transportation and logistics (43.88 million), utilities (156.59 million), and business trusts (23,100). — Bernama
Date: 20 August, 2026 6:27 pm
Source: Malay Mail
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