Malaysian stocks rebound, broad relief rally adds back RM73 bil to market - The Edge Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (April 10): Malaysian stocks staged a broad relief rally on Thursday after the US announced a pause to its reciprocal tariffs on all but one of its trading partners.
The FBM KLCI rose 63.71 points or 4.5% to 1,464.30 at the opening bell and climbed to as high as 1,473.36. The country’s benchmark equity index paused for midday break at 1,465.00, with sharp gains in all 30 component stocks, before closing at 1,463.13 — still up 62.54 points or 4.47%.
The strong rebound added some RM73.28 billion to the total market capitalisation of all the securities on Bursa Malaysia.
To Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong Teck Meng, however, “today’s rebound could just be a temporary blip, with further downside potential due to ongoing uncertainty”.
“The downside risks include non-conclusive tariff negotiations, a potential US recession, and the possibility of a new round of tariffs that could target specific sectors like semiconductors,” said Tradeview Research senior analyst Tan Jia Hui.
Overnight, US President Donald Trump announced that he is pausing the planned increase in reciprocal tariffs for 90 days for all countries, except China. For now, all imports into the US will now be subjected to a baseline 10% duty while goods from China would be charged a 125% levy.
Other Asian markets also soared on the heels of Wall Street’s overnight rebound following the announcement. Taiwan’s Taiex and Japan’s Nikkei 225 were up around 9% while South Korea’s Kospi was 6.6% higher.
“Many institutional funds still hold fair cash reserves, providing a safety net against major downside unless a crisis occurs,” said Wong, who manages assets worth over RM5 billion at Areca Capital.
However, markets could remain volatile from news related to the US tariffs that appear far from resolved, he flagged.
UOB Kay Hian also warned its clients that investors will now be wary of potential future Trump tantrums amid lingering headwinds from slowing demand, margin compression, China sanctions and valuation discounts.
For now however, investors on Bursa Malaysia are breathing a sigh of relief. The ringgit also strengthened to 4.4698 against the US dollar, from 4.4963 on Wednesday.
Among KLCI component stocks, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (KL:CIMB) was the biggest gainer, rising nearly 9%. Gamuda Bhd (KL:GAMUDA) and Nestlé (Malaysia) Bhd (KL:NESTLE) each climbed over 7%.
The gains extended all the way to smaller-cap stocks as the FBM ACE Index advanced 5.39%, and all sectors were in the positive territory. The Bursa Malaysia Technology Index surged 11.53% while the Energy Index was up 7.73% and the Construction Index was 6.18% higher.
Overall, market breadth was strongly positive as gainers outnumbered losers at 1075 to 186, while 261 counters were unchanged, after 4.42 billion shares worth RM3.81 billion changed hands.

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