Bursa Malaysia higher at midday as GDP growth beats forecast
At 12:30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 4.62 points to 1,726.81, beating Thursday’s close of 1,722.19. The index had opened 2.33 points weaker at 1,719.86 and traded between 1,719.56 and 1,728.20.
Source: Bernama · July 21, 2026 at 1:24 PM · AI-assisted report
Single-sourceKUALA LUMPUR, 21 JULY 2026 —
At 12:30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 4.62 points to 1,726.81, beating Thursday’s close of 1,722.19. The index had opened 2.33 points weaker at 1,719.86 and traded between 1,719.56 and 1,728.20.
Market Impact
Advance estimates showed second-quarter 2026 gross domestic product expanded 5.8%, the government said, up from 5.4% in the first quarter.
Foreign buying lifted heavyweights: Maybank gained 18 sen to RM11.22, Public Bank added three sen to RM5.23 and CIMB rose nine sen to RM7.79. Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.30 while IHH Healthcare fell 13 sen to RM8.40.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI had reclaimed its uptrend after an early-session pullback.
“We noticed foreign funds are back on domestic stocks, but overall trading remains muted,” he said. “We expect the index to trade within 1,715–1,730 today.”
The FBM Emas Index rose 3.95 points to 12,703.17 and the FBMT 100 Index gained 8.71 points to 12,538.32. The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 44.86 points to 12,476.41, the FBM 70 Index dropped 94.10 points to 17,809.40 and the FBM ACE Index eased 14.63 points to 4,900.48.
Decliners led gainers 618 to 347, with 468 counters unchanged, 1,302 untraded and 12 suspended.
Among most-active names, Tanco rose two sen to 34 sen, Ekovest added one sen to 21 sen, Nationgate slid seven sen to RM1.10, Dagang Nexchange eased two sen to 44.5 sen and VS Industry was half a sen lower at 23 sen.
Heavy gainers included Hong Leong Bank, up 32 sen to RM22.34, Padini, which added 16 sen to RM1.58, Hong Leong Financial, up 14 sen to RM18.82, and Petronas Chemicals, which gained 13 sen to RM4.71.
Leaders on the downside were Malaysian Pacific Industries, down RM1 to RM44.28, Nestlé, down 84 sen to RM92.16, United Plantations, which shed 48 sen to RM34.52, and UMS Integration, down 32 sen to RM7.71.
Sector moves were mixed: the Financial Services Index jumped 179.79 points to 20,490.61 and the Plantation Index fell 48.48 points to 9,425.29. The Industrial Products and Services Index dipped 0.82 point to 187.11 and the Energy Index slipped 2.06 points to 767.83.
Related: Bursa Malaysia