Malaysia Stocks Climb to Near 7-Year High

The FBM KLCI rose 11 points, or 0.6%, to 1,697, hitting its highest level since March 2019 in afternoon trade on Monday, extending gains from the previous session, mainly supported by the plantation, property, and financial services sectors. Bursa Malaysia tracked gains among Asian peers, despite US stock futures falling amid an open criminal investigation into Fed Chair Powell. Domestically, traders anticipated the preliminary release of fourth-quarter GDP later this week, after the economy posted its strongest growth in a year in the third quarter. The plantation sector surged 1.8%, mainly supported by gains in United Plantations (6.7%), Sarawak Oil Palms (3.1%), and Kuala Lumpur Kepong (0.8%). Meanwhile, financial services rose 0.8%, with the country’s leading banks among the top gainers. Maybank climbed 1.1%, CIMB gained 0.6%, while Hong Leong Bank rose 1.0%. However, traders also looked ahead to the release of a slew of economic data from China, including GDP and trade figures.