Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Thursday, recovering from an intraday low as profit-taking, particularly in financial stocks, weighed on the market. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended the day 6.87 points or 0.39 per cent lower at 1,740.94, down from Wednesday's close of 1,747.81. The benchmark index had opened stronger at 1,749.43 but fluctuated between 1,726.92 and 1,749.43 during the session.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the broader market sentiment was negative, with 746 decliners outnumbering 367 gainers, while 520 counters remained unchanged. A total of 1,136 counters were untraded, and 165 were suspended. The market turnover increased to 2.98 billion units worth RM4.07 billion, compared to 2.52 billion units worth RM2.93 billion on Wednesday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, indicated that the recent decline presents a bargain-hunting opportunity, as valuations have become more attractive at lower levels. Thong suggested that maintaining a firm hold above the 1,730-1,740 range would preserve an upward bias and support future gains.

Mohd Sedek Jantan, director of investment strategy and country economist at IPPFA Sdn Bhd, noted that the ongoing weakness is primarily driven by heavyweight financial stocks, as institutional investors engage in post-earnings profit-taking. The financial sector's significant contribution to the total index weight exerted considerable pressure on the overall index performance.

Among heavyweight counters, Maybank dropped 36 sen to RM12.00, while Public Bank rose five sen to RM5.00. CIMB Group slipped one sen to RM8.46, Tenaga Nasional remained unchanged at RM14.18, and IHH Healthcare edged up two sen to RM9.02. In the most active list, Aquawalk decreased by 7.5 sen to 28.5 sen, Zetrix AI dipped half-a-sen to 80 sen, Tanco was stable at RM1.53, Nationgate fell 11.5 sen to 89.5 sen, and Capital A declined by 1.5 sen to 59 sen.

Top gainers included Sunway Construction, which increased by 35 sen to RM7.25, and Petronas Dagangan, which gained 32 sen to RM22.28. Nestle advanced 30 sen to RM110.80, Allianz Malaysia climbed 22 sen to RM22.30, and Malaysian Pacific Industries rose 14 sen to RM32.14. Meanwhile, top losers included Dutch Lady, which dropped 88 sen to RM32.20, and Telekom Malaysia, which fell 29 sen to RM7.46. Amway declined 26 sen to RM5.11, Hong Leong Bank lost 20 sen to RM23.84, and Fraser and Neave decreased 18 sen to RM33.50.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 55.00 points to 12,768.60, while the FBMT 100 Index fell by 49.86 points to 12,594.31. The FBM Emas Shariah Index eased by 33.06 points to 12,311.71, the FBM 70 Index shed 70.83 points to 17,698.25, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 37.40 points to 4,764.55.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell by 164.79 points to 21,466.34, while the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.38 points to 175.34. The Energy Index declined 10.27 points to 759.46, and the Plantation Index eased 35.14 points to 8,351.55.

The Main Market volume rose to 1.82 billion units worth RM3.82 billion, compared to 1.44 billion units worth RM2.67 billion on Wednesday. Warrant turnover increased to 707.30 million units worth RM87.39 million from 628.70 million units worth RM75.10 million previously. The ACE Market volume grew to 459.82 million units valued at RM163.60 million from 446.38 million units valued at RM179.65 million the previous day.

Consumer products and services accounted for 328.00 million shares traded on the Main Market, with industrial products and services at 309.17 million, construction at 150.06 million, technology at 269.36 million, and financial services at 190.53 million. Other sectors included property with 163.45 million shares, plantation with 37.72 million, real estate investment trusts with 25.33 million, closed-end fund with 12,900, energy with 86.81 million, healthcare with 79.11 million, telecommunications and media with 100.53 million, transportation and logistics with 39.03 million, utilities with 37.53 million, and business trusts with 500,100.