FBM KLCI Ends Week At Intraday High On Selective Heavyweight Bargain Hunting

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 – Bursa Malaysia closed the trading week on a marginally higher note on Friday, October 23, 2026, as late afternoon selective buying in key index heavyweights helped offset broader market caution ahead of the weekend.

At 5:00 PM, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) advanced 3.42 points, or 0.21 per cent, to finish at its intraday high of 1,611.56, up from Thursday’s close of 1,608.14.

The main index opened 0.51 of a point lower at 1,607.63 and touched an intraday low of 1,604.38 during mid-morning trading before reversing direction in late afternoon session.

Market breadth across the broader exchange ended nearly balanced, with decliners narrowly leading gainers 529 to 528, while 532 counters traded unchanged, 1,312 were untraded, and 16 were suspended. Total exchange turnover expanded to 3.18 billion units valued at RM2.47 billion, compared to 2.89 billion units worth RM2.69 billion recorded on Thursday.

Heavyweight Movements, Top Gainers & Losers, and Sectoral Index Trends

Key stock developments and index performances across sector boards included:

• Heavyweight Financials & Utilities: Banking and utility heavyweights provided main support to the benchmark, with Maybank surging nine sen to RM10.06, Public Bank advancing four sen to RM4.75, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) gaining six sen to RM13.30. CIMB finished flat at RM7.15, while IHH Healthcare fell nine sen to RM7.90.
• Top Market Gainers: Consumer, plantation, and industrial counters led the advancers, with Nestle jumping 58 sen to RM89.54, Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) advancing 22 sen to RM20.52, Hong Leong Industries expanding 18 sen to RM16.30, and Petronas Chemicals gaining 16 sen to RM4.65.
• Top Market Decliners: Technology, financial, and commodity stocks faced late profit-taking, led by Malaysian Pacific Industries (MPI) and Hong Leong Bank, which fell 30 sen each to RM40.00 and RM21.20, respectively. Press Metal lost 21 sen to RM6.73, and Genting Plantations shed 18 sen to RM5.11.
• Active Counters: Zetrix AI rose 2.5 sen to 7.5 sen, Top Glove gained four sen to 92 sen, Ni Hsin added three sen to 49 sen, V.S. Industry held unchanged at 33 sen, and CBH Engineering dropped four sen to 90.5 sen.
• Broad & Sectoral Indices: The Financial Services Index gained 49.32 points to 18,654.32, the Plantation Index rose 14.80 points to 8,677.48, and the Energy Index added 2.87 points to 834.67. The Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.05 of a point to 175.40. Among key broad market indices, the FBM Mid 70 Index climbed 51.96 points to 17,170.33, the FBM Emas Index grew 28.95 points to 11,993.45, the FBM Top 100 Index advanced 27.78 points to 11,797.61, the FBM ACE Index gained 22.64 points to 5,346.14, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 11.59 points to 11,943.57.

–NMT