Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia concluded the trading day in negative territory on Tuesday as investors engaged in profit-taking following recent gains, ending a three-day rally.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased by 3.97 points, or 0.23 percent, closing at 1,754.01. This was a drop from Monday's close of 1,757.98. The benchmark index opened 1.99 points lower at 1,755.99 and fluctuated between 1,747.51 and 1,756 during the session.

The broader market exhibited a negative trend, with 636 decliners outnumbering 394 gainers, while 523 counters remained unchanged. A total of 1,215 counters were not traded, and 26 were suspended. Turnover decreased to 2.10 billion units valued at RM2.80 billion, compared to 2.47 billion units worth RM2.65 billion on Monday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's equity research vice-president, Thong Pak Leng, commented that the benchmark index's slight ease followed a strong climb. However, he noted that the market's overall sentiment remains positive, and that the pullback seemed to be a normal pause as investors took profits after earlier gains. Thong also mentioned that buying interest has not vanished, as the index continues to hover near recent highs, indicating underlying confidence in the market. He anticipates that the FBM KLCI will trend within the 1,740-1,760 range for the week.

Mohd Sedek Jantan, director of investment strategy and country economist at IPPFA Sdn Bhd, expressed optimism that the current downtrend would be limited and temporary. He suggested that the day's pullback might offer an opportunity for bargain hunting, enabling investors to acquire high-quality, large-cap stocks at more attractive valuations.

In terms of specific counters, Maybank gained 18 sen to RM12.38, Public Bank added one sen to RM5.09, while IHH Healthcare advanced eight sen to RM9.08. Conversely, CIMB Group declined by six sen to RM8.44, and Tenaga Nasional dropped by four sen to RM14.10.

Among the most active stocks, Tanco increased by two sen to RM1.50, Pharmaniaga decreased by 1.5 sen to 30 sen, and Zetrix AI fell by two sen to 81 sen. OCR remained flat at 4.5 sen, while VS Industry was unchanged at 38.5 sen.

Top gainers included Fraser and Neave, which rose 70 sen to RM33.70, Petronas Dagangan, which gained 42 sen to RM21.40, and Sunway Construction, which increased by 28 sen to RM6.59. VSTECS rallied 23 sen to RM4.50, and Malaysian Pacific added 20 sen to RM31.22.

Top decliners were led by Nestle, which dropped RM1.40 to RM111, United Plantations, which lost 70 sen to RM29.62, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong, which fell 40 sen to RM19.60. Hong Leong Financial shed 28 sen to RM21.82, while Knusford tumbled 24 sen to 43.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 34.94 points to 12,851.77, the FBMT 100 Index declined 33.64 points to 12,674.90, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 70.15 points to 12,346.90. The FBM 70 Index shed 69.44 points to 17,748.72, and the FBM ACE Index eased 36.55 points to 4,812.13.

In sectoral performance, the Financial Services Index rose 62.59 points to 21,714.30, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.92 points to 173.61, the Energy Index dropped 3.36 points to 766.94, and the Plantation Index fell 95.24 points to 8,394.07.

Market activity on the Main Market saw a volume decrease to 1.34 billion units worth RM2.61 billion from 1.39 billion units valued at RM2.44 billion on Monday. Warrant turnover dropped to 510.55 million units worth RM63.57 million from 825.20 million units worth RM89.36 million previously. Conversely, the ACE Market volume increased to 257.81 million units valued at RM130.05 million from 256.43 million units worth RM114.12 million the previous day.