Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia bucked the regional trend to conclude the morning trading session on a lower note, with significant selling activity observed among heavyweight stocks, particularly in financial services and construction sectors. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 9.85 points to 1,517.96, compared to Monday’s closing value of 1,527.81.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the benchmark index opened 14.52 points lower at 1,513.29 and fluctuated between 1,512.21 and 1,523.39 throughout the session. On the broader market, the number of declining stocks surpassed gainers, with 435 decliners compared to 364 gainers, while 420 counters remained unchanged, 1,217 were untraded, and seven were suspended. The turnover was reported at 1.97 billion shares valued at RM1.36 billion.
Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries were closed previously due to the Nuzul Al-Quran public holiday. A dealer noted that the local bourse has remained in the negative territory since the opening bell, with pressure from selected heavyweight stocks impacting the barometer index. Meanwhile, most major Asian bourses trended upward despite the United States Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate announcement on March 19, following the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting, where the Fed is expected to maintain its interest rate.
In the US, stock markets saw a significant decline on Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead of the Fed’s monetary policy decision and assessed the potential implications of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd mentioned in a note that the weakness in the US market may lead to selling interest in local technology stocks, potentially limiting the upside of the recent rebound.
The note also highlighted that investors might consider the upcoming initial public offering of Hi Mobility Bhd, which could benefit from the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone initiatives, the commencement of BAS.My services in Melaka, and the Rapid KL contract secured last year. Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell by four sen to RM10.38, and CIMB slipped by 31 sen to RM6.94. Public Bank and IHH Healthcare both increased by one sen to RM4.55 and RM7.10, respectively, while Tenaga Nasional gained two sen to RM13.58.
In terms of active stocks, Sapura Energy rose by half-a-sen to five sen, Pertama Digital added 5.5 sen to 16.5 sen, Sedania increased by 3.5 sen to 12.5 sen, and NationGate improved by three sen to RM1.38. On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined by 64.72 points to 11,359.76, the FBMT 100 Index weakened by 70.06 points to 11,117.74, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell by 36.62 points to 11,047.38.
The FBM 70 Index decreased by 94.05 points to 16,229.70, and the FBM ACE Index eased by 3.76 points to 4,687.39. In sectoral performance, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down by 0.41 points to 154.65, and the Financial Services Index fell by 168.15 points to 18,627.99, while the Energy Index rose by 5.91 points to 741.27, and the Plantation Index increased by 3.82 points to 7,420.07.