KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed higher on Thursday, buoyed by increased buying activity.
The market was closed yesterday for Wesak.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 7.09 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 1,629.18 from Tuesday's close of 1,622.09.
The benchmark index, which opened 1.43 points lower at 1,620.66, moved between 1,620.66 and 1,632.79 throughout the trading session.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI finished higher as buying resumes following Tuesday's profit taking activities.
Thong said key regional indices ended mixed due to cautious trading following negative performance on Wall Street overnight.
"On the other hand, investors have scaled back their expectations for global rate cuts this year due to the more hawkish-than-expected minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting," he told the Business Times.
Back home, Thong said the firm remains optimistic on local market sentiment due to strong support from foreign funds, while maintaining caution due to the increasing volatility of both regional and global equity markets.
"We anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,625-1,640 towards the weekend," he added.
On the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd remained unchanged at RM9.99, Public Bank Bhd rose one sen to RM4.20, IHH Healthcare fell two sen to RM6.25, CelcomDigi Bhd fell one sen to RM4.06 while Petronas Chemicals lost 11 sen to RM6.92.
Among the actives, Ingenieur Gudang Bhd eased by half-a-sen to 6.5 sen, SNS Network Technology Bhd added 13 sen to 63 sen and KNM Group Bhd gained 2.5 sen to 10 sen.
Ends