Kuala Lumpur:Bursa Malaysia saw a decline at mid-afternoon, with selling pressure noted in selected heavyweight stocks.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 19 points to 1,632.17 at 3 pm, down from Wednesday's close of 1,651.17. The index had initially opened 1.30 points lower at 1,649.87.
Market breadth was negative, with 614 decliners compared to 322 gainers. Additionally, 488 counters remained unchanged, 1,349 were untraded, and 12 were suspended. The turnover was recorded at 1.98 billion units valued at RM1.50 billion.
Among the prominent stocks, Maybank decreased by three sen to RM9.96, Public Bank fell five sen to RM4.65, CIMB was down seven sen to RM7.72, Tenaga Nasional declined four sen to RM12.92, and IHH Healthcare dropped 16 sen to RM7.67.
In active trading, Zetrix AI rose half a sen to 16.5 sen, VS Industry fell half a sen to 27.5 sen, Jaks Resources lost one sen to 19.5 sen, GB Bond retreated 2.5 sen to 22.5 sen, and Dagang Nexchange increased by 1.5 sen to 50 sen.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which surged RM1.34 to RM41.74, Ayer Holdings, up 20 sen to RM7.70, MI Technovation, rising 16 sen to RM5.36, Riverview Rubber Estates, strengthening 13 sen to RM3.03, and Vitrox, improving 11 sen to RM10.02.
Among the top losers, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 72 sen to RM21.48, Allianz Malaysia dropped 62 sen to RM21.00, and United Plantations decreased 46 sen to RM31.10. Hong Leong Bank and Batu Kawan both fell 42 sen to RM22.72 and RM20.10, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index fell 103.44 points to 17,471.22, the FBM Emas Index decreased 117.43 points to 12,174.59, and the FBM Top 100 Index reduced by 121.55 points to 11,962.89. The FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened by 112.81 points to 12,063.54, while the FBM ACE Index decreased by 27.38 points to 5,506.90.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 2.02 points to 178.39, the Energy Index eased 8.88 points to 836.82, the Financial Services Index dropped 168.21 points to 19,048.82, and the Plantation Index retreated 150.10 points to 9,046.57.