The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (KLCI) extended its gains for a second consecutive month in August 2026, although its year-to-date performance continued to lag several regional markets, according to CIMB Securities.
The KLCI edged 0.1% higher month-on-month in August, outperforming several broader domestic indices, including the FBM Top 100 and FBM Emas Shariah.
Across regional markets, however, Malaysia’s performance was relatively modest.
Among the MIST markets — Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand — Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) was the strongest performer during August, advancing 4.6%, followed by Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI), which gained 2.3%, and the KLCI’s 0.1% increase.
CIMB’s report also showed weakness in other Southeast Asian markets during the month, with regional performance diverging significantly as investors navigated shifting global monetary policy expectations and external uncertainties.
On a year-to-date basis, the KLCI recorded a 2.7% gain in the first eight months of 2026, but significantly underperformed Singapore’s STI.
The STI surged 23.9% during 8M26, leaving the KLCI trailing the Singapore benchmark by 21.2 percentage points.
According to CIMB’s MIST comparison, Thailand’s SET Index was the strongest performer over the first eight months, rising 26.6%, followed by Singapore at 23.9% and Malaysia at 2.7%.
Indonesia’s JCI was the weakest performer on a year-to-date basis, declining 24.5%.
The data indicate that while Malaysian equities have remained in positive territory this year, the magnitude of gains has been substantially smaller than those recorded by the strongest-performing regional markets.
Performance within Bursa Malaysia was considerably stronger outside the benchmark large-cap index in August.
CIMB said the FBM ACE, FBM Hijrah Shariah and FBM Small Cap indices recorded month-on-month gains ranging from 2.3% to 5.5%, indicating stronger investor interest in selected smaller-cap and growth-oriented stocks.
By comparison, the FBM Mid 70, FBM Fledgling and FBM Emas Shariah were the three weakest-performing indices, declining between 0.4% and 0.5% during the month.
The divergence suggests that the KLCI’s marginal 0.1% advance did not fully capture pockets of stronger performance across the broader Malaysian equity market.
For the first eight months of the year, the FBM ACE emerged as Bursa Malaysia’s best-performing major index, gaining 7.7%.
It was followed by the FBM Mid 70, which advanced 7.4%, while the FBM Hijrah Shariah gained 4.1%.
All the key indices tracked by CIMB remained in positive territory for 8M26.
At the lower end of the performance table, the FBM Fledgling registered a 0.7% year-to-date gain, while the FBM Small Cap advanced 2.2%.
The latest market performance came against a backdrop of renewed foreign selling in Malaysian equities. CIMB separately reported that foreign investors recorded RM2.0 billion in net selling during August, reversing RM267 million of net buying in July and bringing cumulative foreign outflows to RM4.83 billion for the first eight months of 2026.
Despite those foreign outflows, the KLCI managed to remain positive in August, supported by domestic participation, with local institutional investors turning net buyers during the month.
