Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia wrapped up the first half of the 2026 trading year with a slight decline, experiencing a range-bound trading session as investors remained cautious due to the absence of new domestic catalysts.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, noted that regional equities saw a broad increase, buoyed by stronger-than-expected business activity data from China and continued strength in technology stocks. At the close of the trading day, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 1.85 points, closing at 1,664.06 compared to the previous day's close of 1,665.91. The index opened slightly higher at 1,667.28 and ranged between an intraday low of 1,661.80 and a high of 1,669.88.

Market breadth showed a positive trend, with 562 gainers surpassing 415 decliners, while 589 counters remained unchanged, 1,124 were untraded, and 79 were suspended. Turnover increased, with 2.91 billion units valued at RM2.77 billion, up from the previous day's 2.71 billion units valued at RM2.13 billion.

Regionally, the Shanghai SSE Composite Index rose by 0.50 percent to 4,094.40, Japan's Nikkei 225 increased by 0.86 percent to 70,062.32, and South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index gained 0.97 percent to 8,476.48. Meanwhile, Singapore's Straits Times Index saw a decline of 0.73 percent to 5,170.65.

Thong highlighted that on the domestic front, investor sentiment remained subdued due to persistent foreign selling and external uncertainties impacting confidence. He noted that the recent market pullback has made valuations of certain blue-chip stocks more appealing, potentially encouraging bargain hunting if global market sentiment remains favorable. Thong also mentioned the likelihood of near-term volatility but expected it to be cushioned by domestic institutional buying and selective accumulation in fundamentally sound stocks.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank decreased by two sen to RM10.78, CIMB fell by four sen to RM7.41, while Public Bank gained one sen to RM4.80. Tenaga Nasional increased by two sen to RM14.28, and IHH remained at RM8.40.

Active counters included Tanco, which rose by three sen to 17.5 sen, and Gamuda, which jumped 17 sen to RM4.37. Meanwhile, Zetrix AI remained flat at 76 sen, Dagang NeXchange decreased by half a sen to 41.5 sen, and Liftech, an ACE Market debutant, fell by five sen to 24 sen.

On the top gainers list, Malaysian Pacific Industries increased by 56 sen to RM49.66, Dutch Lady rose by 50 sen to RM33.00, United Plantations gained 42 sen to RM33.08, UMS Integration surged by 34 sen to RM8.21, and Apollo increased by 29 sen to RM6.14.

Among the top losers, Batu Kawan dropped 34 sen to RM21.10, Allianz decreased by 22 sen to RM21.08, Dynafront fell by 20 sen to 80 sen, AmBank slid 17 sen to RM6.37, and LPI decreased by 16 sen to RM14.98.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index rose by 5.20 points to 12,385.11, the FBM Top 100 Index added 1.95 points to 12,215.04, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved by 31.33 points to 12,283.85. The FBM Mid 70 Index went up by 68.75 points to 17,917.46, and the FBM ACE Index garnered 34.14 points to 4,823.43.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slipped by 62.36 points to 19,610.66, the Energy Index increased by 4.14 points to 751.64, the Plantation Index gained 29.13 points to 8,854.77, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.74 of a point to 180.63.

The Main Market volume climbed to 1.52 billion units valued at RM2.48 billion, compared to 1.33 billion units valued at RM1.86 billion on Monday. Warrants turnover expanded to 883.88 million units worth RM111.20 million, versus 851.04 million units worth RM110.69 million previously. The ACE Market volume declined to 502.82 million units valued at RM176.25 million, from 526.01 million units valued at RM163.67 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 163.71 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services for 285.24 million, construction for 103.53 million, technology for 340.12 million, financial services for 77.88 million, property for 244.71 million, plantation for 29.25 million, real estate investment trusts for 16.47 million, closed-end fund for 9,000, energy for 87.19 million, healthcare for 66.28 million, telecommunications and media for 48.24 million, transportation and logistics for 36.23 million, utilities for 24.39 million, and business trusts for 63,700.