Malaysian blue-chip index ended in green on Thursday, as investor sentiment rebounded on upbeat trade data.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, the main gauge of Malaysian stocks, gained 5.39 points to end 0.3% higher at 1,736.71.

In economic news, Malaysia's trade surplus expanded to 22.5 billion ringgit in July, marking the 75th consecutive month of surplus since May 2020, according to data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia. The surplus beat the consensus forecast of 17.5 billion ringgit in surplus tracked by Investing.com, and compared with a surplus of 14.9 billion ringgit recorded in the previous month.

Total exports grew 38% year over year to 193.6 billion ringgit, compared with a 45.5% increase in the prior month. Imports rose 36.4% to 171.1 billion ringgit, versus the 43.1% increase in June.

In corporate news, shares of CBHB Engineering (KLSE:CBHB) rallied about 7% on today's close after its unit CBH Engineering secured a 246 million ringgit contract to supply, install, test and commission high-voltage transformers and related equipment for a 275 kilovolt substation serving a data center in Johor, Malaysia.

Shares of Sunway Healthcare (KLSE:SUNMED) gained over 1% on close after its profit attributable to owners surged 89% annually to 78.2 million ringgit in the second quarter from 41.4 million ringgit a year earlier.