Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia started lower on Wednesday due to mild profit-taking in early trade, influenced by weaker regional markets and mixed signals from Wall Street, though firm domestic sentiment may provide support later.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 9.15 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 2.35 points, or 0.14 percent, reaching 1,645.96 from the previous close of 1,648.31. The index had initially opened 2.99 points lower at 1,645.32. Market activity showed a positive breadth with 183 gainers outnumbering 165 losers, while 314 counters remained unchanged, 2,114 were untraded, and 12 were suspended. The turnover for the early session amounted to 146.73 million shares valued at RM77.77 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd’s vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, highlighted that Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index continued its downtrend due to concerns over China’s slowing economic growth, with the HSI falling by 1.54 percent. He also mentioned that Wall Street ended mixed as investors evaluated recent U.S. employment data, which indicated steady job growth but left questions about future interest rate decisions.
Thong Pak Leng further noted potential bullish developments for the local bourse, saying, “A firm breakout above 1,650, backed by strong volume, would reinforce the bullish bias and set the stage for a move toward 1,670. For today, we anticipate the benchmark index to trend within the 1,630-1,645 range.”
In the realm of heavyweights, Maybank stayed flat at RM10.36, Public Bank decreased by one sen to RM4.46, while CIMB and IHH Healthcare each dropped by five sen to RM7.93 and RM8.67, respectively. Tenaga Nasional saw a rise of six sen, reaching RM13.20.
Among the most active stocks, TWL and Velesto remained unchanged at 2.5 sen and 27.5 sen, respectively, whereas VS Industry and Top Glove each gained 1.5 sen to 50 sen and 65 sen. Tanco rose by one sen to RM1.16.
Top gainers included Petronas Gas, which increased by 12 sen to RM17.88, UWC gained 10 sen to RM4.07, and PPB added eight sen to RM10.20. Meanwhile, MI Technovation and Itmax System each rose by seven sen, reaching RM4.69 and RM13.20, respectively.
In contrast, top losers were highlighted by Nestle, which fell RM1.10 to RM111.90. Pentamaster lost nine sen to RM3.71, while AirAsia X and RHB Bank each declined seven sen to RM1.69 and RM7.58. Time Dotcom also saw a decrease, sliding six sen to RM5.49.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slightly declined by 7.17 points to 12,092.03, and the FBMT 100 Index dropped 8.95 points to 11,891.88. The FBM ACE Index fell 8.46 points to 4,728.96, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 2.67 points to 11,913.17, and the FBM 70 Index rose 23.20 points to 16,641.80.
Sector-wise, the Energy Index saw a marginal increase of 0.03 points to 760.09, and the Plantation Index advanced by 0.45 of a point to 8,180.48. However, the Financial Services Index narrowed by 43.90 points to 19,272.17, and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down by 0.35 of a point to 169.14.