KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended higher on Wednesday, with investors adopting a cautiously optimistic stance following the announcement of a United States–China trade framework agreement, which includes provisions on technology trade.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 6.89 points, or 0.45 per cent to 1,523.84 from Tuesday’s close of 1,516.95.
The benchmark index opened 3.91 points higher at 1,520.86 this morning, which was its day’s low, and subsequently moved to a high of 1,530.85 in the early session.
On the broader market, gainers thumped decliners 545 to 375, while 528 counters were unchanged, 921 untraded and 11 suspended.
Turnover soared to 3.27 billion units worth RM2.59 billion compared with yesterday’s 2.72 billion units worth RM2.09 billion.
UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the development in the US-China trade negotiations marks a constructive step toward de-escalation, although it falls short of a material breakthrough.
Domestically, the market found additional support from encouraging macroeconomic data, with figures released today by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) showing that the sales value of the manufacturing sector rose by 4.8 per cent year-on-year in April 2025, reaching RM160.6 billion.
“Notably, the domestic-oriented industries expanded further by 3.6 per cent in April, up from a 1.8 per cent increase in March. Although these indicators are typically considered lagging, they are nonetheless critical in signalling that Malaysia’s economic and export sectors remain fundamentally solid despite global trade uncertainties,” he said.
Mohd Sedek further elaborated that investor sentiment was further buoyed by an improvement in trading activity as market volume rebounded to a more normalised level, surpassing the three billion shares mark after languishing around 2.7 billion shares for the past five consecutive trading days.
“Financials, utilities, and data centre-related counters led the gainers, reflecting renewed confidence in sectors anchored by domestic demand and long-term structural trends,” he added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank advanced four sen to RM9.70, Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.24, Public Bank and CIMB both rose five sen to RM4.31 and RM6.90, respectively, while IHH slipped three sen to RM6.86.
The top gainers in the broader market were led by consumer products and services counters, with F&N adding 64 sen to RM28.44, followed by Nestle, which gained 56 sen to RM75.56, and Allianz climbed 26 sen to RM19.38.
Among the most active stocks, MYEG was two sen higher at 97 sen, TWL was flat at 2.5 sen, YTL Corporation improved 16 sen to RM2.18, Gamuda was six sen better at RM4.76, and Tanco perked up one sen to 97.5 sen.
