Kuala Lumpur, Feb 21, 2026, 15:53 MYT — Market closed.
- FBM KLCI last closed up 0.04% at 1,752.83 after a late lift from bank heavyweights
- Market breadth stayed weak even as financial names steadied the benchmark
- Traders head into next week watching results season, the ringgit and key U.S. data
Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended Friday nearly unchanged, up 0.72 point, or 0.04%, at 1,752.83 as late buying in financial heavyweights helped the index recover from earlier softness. Decliners still outnumbered advancers, and turnover was 2.03 billion shares worth 2.20 billion ringgit. (BERNAMA)
The near-flat close matters because it shows how narrow the support has become. Big banks can still prop up the headline index, but the selling underneath points to defensive positioning going into a week when traders are likely to react to offshore headlines first, and local stories second.
Bursa Malaysia is likely to trade higher next week and could test the 1,770 level as investors move into an active stretch ahead of the earnings season, IPPFA Sdn Bhd’s Mohd Sedek Jantan said. He flagged corporate results as the “critical barometer” for index-level earnings resilience, while Rakuten Trade’s Thong Pak Leng said the market may trade sideways as it digests earlier gains and profit-taking persists in blue chips. (BERNAMA)
But there is an obvious downside: if profit-taking spreads from a few heavyweight counters into a broader de-risking move, the KLCI can look stable while liquidity thins fast. A jump in geopolitical risk or a sharp swing in global rates can also turn “selective buying” into “no bids” in a hurry.
On the macro front, fresh trade numbers gave the growth story some backing. The Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry said Malaysia’s January trade rose 12.6% year-on-year to RM272.37 billion, as exports grew 19.6% to RM146.87 billion and the surplus stood at RM21.37 billion; MITI called it a record January. Matrade chief executive Abu Bakar Yusof said the agency would keep pushing exporter development and promotion programmes this year. (BERNAMA)
Official statistics also showed the pace cooled from December on a month-on-month basis: the trade department said exports, imports and total trade all slipped 3.9% in January from December, while the trade balance fell 3.2%. Re-exports jumped 51.5% year-on-year, highlighting how much of the lift came through trade-linked flows rather than just domestic shipments. (Department of Statistics Malaysia)
Inflation stayed moderate in the latest reading. The statistics department said Malaysia’s January inflation rose 1.6% from a year earlier, while the transport group was in deflation at -0.7%, and headline inflation edged up 0.1% from December. (Department of Statistics Malaysia)
Currency markets were steadier. The ringgit closed slightly firmer on Friday at 3.8995/9055 per dollar, Bank Muamalat chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said, pointing to cautious “risk-off” sentiment tied to U.S.-Iran nuclear talks and firmer oil; Brent crude was up 0.89% at $72.30 a barrel, he added. (Malay Mail)
Derivatives traders were less convinced by the cash market’s late bounce. FBM KLCI futures ended lower on Friday, with the front-month February contract down 12 points at 1,746.0; open interest rose, a sign positions were being added rather than closed. (BERNAMA)
Outside Malaysia, the week’s tone may hinge on U.S. tech earnings and geopolitics. Nvidia reports on Wednesday, and markets are also watching the four-year mark of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as tensions in the Middle East keep oil and defence names in play, Reuters’ “Take Five” column said. (Reuters)
Locally, the next hard date on the policy calendar is Bank Negara Malaysia’s Monetary Policy Committee decision on March 5. (Bank Negara Malaysia)
When the market reopens on Monday (Feb 23), traders will be looking for early signals from the earnings season and whether the late-week bank bid can hold. The first near-term macro marker is the Conference Board’s U.S. consumer confidence report due on Tuesday (Feb 24). (Investing)
