Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia's main index saw a decline on Monday as investors engaged in profit-taking in banking stocks, affecting the benchmark's performance, though the overall market sentiment remained steady. At closing, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 9.16 points, equivalent to 0.52%, ending the day at 1,722.29, down from last Friday's closing of 1,731.45. The index had initially opened slightly higher at 1,732.65, fluctuating between 1,720.05 and 1,733.76 during the trading session.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the broader market demonstrated resilience as the number of advancing stocks outpaced decliners, with 590 gainers against 463 losers. Additionally, 581 counters remained unchanged, while 1,101 were untraded, and 12 were suspended. Turnover decreased to 3.27 billion units valued at RM2.21 billion, compared to the previous 3.44 billion units valued at RM3.04 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, commented on the mixed performance of regional markets. South Korean equities faced declines due to concerns over high valuations in the artificial intelligence sector, whereas China and Hong Kong markets showed better performance with renewed optimism in their AI industries. Concurrently, Brent crude oil prices rose above US$90 per barrel amidst increasing tensions in West Asia, raising concerns about inflation and global interest rates.
Thong Pak Leng highlighted that despite potential market dampening from geopolitical tensions and rising crude oil prices, continuous foreign fund inflows and strong buying interest in select blue-chip stocks could mitigate the downside. He noted that sector rotation would remain a significant theme, with investors showing a preference for energy and plantation stocks driven by firm commodity prices, and selective opportunities arising in fundamentally robust banking and defensive stocks.
Among heavyweights, Maybank saw a reduction of 18 sen to RM11.02, Public Bank dropped by six sen to RM5.19, and CIMB decreased by seven sen to RM7.75, while Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare remained flat at RM14.30 and RM8.50, respectively. Active stocks included Inari Amertron, which rose by 11 sen to RM2.28, while Pegasus Heights and Aimax remained unchanged at half-a-sen and one sen, respectively. Zetrix AI decreased by 2.5 sen to 72 sen, and Tanco fell by three sen to 30.5 sen.
Top gainers for the day included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which increased by RM1.46 to RM44.66, Vitrox, which surged by 41 sen to RM7.69, and Westports, which climbed 38 sen to RM6.53. Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd and Kelington also saw gains, increasing by 34 sen to RM5.64 and 28 sen to RM7.78, respectively. Conversely, among the top losers, Nestle fell by 78 sen to RM92.66, Hong Leong Financial decreased by 48 sen to RM18.34, Hong Leong Bank retreated 20 sen to RM22.24, and RHB Bank slid 16 sen to RM8.37.
In terms of broader indices, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 41.18 points to 12,529.65, the FBM 70 Index increased by 139.96 points to 17,914.88, and the FBM ACE Index went up by 31.62 points to 4,910.77. However, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 17.91 points to 12,701.18, and the FBMT 100 Index fell by 25.40 points to 12,532.15.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index experienced a decline of 237.18 points to 20,298.18, while the Plantation Index saw a gain of 9.77 points to 9,493.54. The Industrial Products and Services Index edged up by 0.46 of a point to 186.19, and the Energy Index improved by 9.48 points to 775.76.
The Main Market's volume reduced to 1.62 billion units valued at RM1.93 billion compared to 1.65 billion units valued at RM2.72 billion the previous Friday. Warrants turnover also decreased to 1.20 billion units valued at RM141.55 million, compared to 1.28 billion units worth RM152.59 million previously. The ACE Market's volume fell to 422.86 million units valued at RM135.92 million from 504.91 million units valued at RM171.06 million last Friday.
In the Main Market, consumer products and services counters accounted for 147.01 million shares traded, industrial products and services for 249.20 million, construction for 94.93 million, technology for 335.70 million, financial services for 62.05 million, and property for 423.76 million. Other sectors included plantation with 28.35 million shares, real estate investment trusts with 11.77 million, closed-end funds with 4,200, energy with 121.77 million, healthcare with 45.40 million, telecommunications and media with 24.30 million, transportation and logistics with 46.76 million, utilities with 17.28 million, and business trusts with 111,300.