Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Monday as investors turned cautious, with profit-taking emerging in selected heavyweights, amid rising global bond yields and ahead of the US inflation release. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 4.17 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,708.50 from Friday's close of 1,712.67.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the benchmark index opened 1.24 points lower at 1,711.43 and moved between 1,705.94 and 1,713.50 throughout the session. Market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 619 to 419, while 565 counters were unchanged, 1,095 remained untraded, and 59 were suspended. Turnover fell to 3.06 billion units worth RM3.17 billion compared with 3.68 billion units worth RM3.58 billion on Friday.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan noted that investor focus is expected to remain centred on first-quarter results from major Malaysian banks, which will provide clearer direction on credit growth, margin resilience, and the broader strength of domestic consumption trends. Investors are also increasingly sensitive to Friday's US Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) data, where stronger-than-expected inflation could push yields higher and challenge expectations for the US Federal Reserve to ease interest rates. While the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven equity rally continues to underpin regional risk sentiment, rising yields and tighter financial conditions are beginning to reintroduce valuation pressures across global equities and emerging markets.

Among heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals lost 36 sen to RM5.34, Press Metal Aluminium dropped 13 sen to RM8.97, and IOI Corporation lost eight sen to RM4.01. Meanwhile, Maybank gained six sen to RM11.06, and Public Bank slipped one sen to RM4.76. In terms of active stocks, Zetrix AI, YTL Corporation, and SFP Tech each rose one sen to 80.5 sen, RM2.12, and 22.5 sen respectively, while Skyechip surged 22 sen to RM2.92, and EI Power shed 3.5 sen to 59 sen.

The top gainers included Unisem, which advanced 35 sen to RM4.85, MI Technovation jumped 33 sen to RM4.53, UMS Integration added 25 sen to RM8.42, and VSTECS garnered 22 sen to RM6.11. On the other hand, the top losers were Malaysian Pacific Industries, which fell 50 sen to RM48.00, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dropped 32 sen to RM19.92, and Scicom and Batu Kawan each slipped 20 sen to RM1.64 and RM20.40, respectively, with SAM Engineering declining 18 sen to RM4.80.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index sank 25.89 points to 12,680.34, the FBM Top 100 Index slid 28.22 points to 12,518.54, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 36.33 points to 12,607.84. The FBM Mid 70 Index declined 31.41 points to 18,266.89, and the FBM ACE Index shed 4.25 points to 4,721.72.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 14.45 points to 20,011.55, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 2.91 points to 197.72. The Energy Index fell 6.63 points to 785.92, and the Plantation Index decreased 58.0 points to 8,526.27. The Main Market volume inched down to 1.82 billion units valued at RM2.89 billion from 1.85 billion units valued at RM3.27 billion on Friday. Warrants turnover slipped to 600.76 million units worth RM66.21 million from 876.85 million units worth RM112.65 million previously. The ACE Market volume tumbled to 639.99 million units valued at RM208.80 million from 952.73 million units valued at RM189.17 million last Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 272.32 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (292 million), and construction (154.93 million). Technology accounted for 388.79 million, financial services for 39.98 million, property for 180.16 million, plantation for 32.44 million, real estate investment trusts for 28.09 million, and closed-end fund for 80,400. Energy accounted for 149.39 million, healthcare for 97.46 million, telecommunications and media for 72.76 million, transportation and logistics for 33.51 million, utilities for 74.12 million, and business trusts for 1,100.