Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia experienced a decline at mid-afternoon, primarily due to selling pressures in heavyweights such as Public Bank, CIMB Group, and MISC. These key counters collectively contributed to a decrease in the composite index by 4.63 points.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) saw a reduction of 7.91 points, settling at 1,614.34, compared to the previous closing of 1,622.25. The trading day began with the benchmark index opening 20.50 points lower at 1,601.75. Market sentiment was negative, with 902 decliners outweighing 258 gainers. Meanwhile, 386 counters remained unchanged, 1,114 were untraded, and 35 were suspended. The turnover amounted to 2.52 billion shares, valued at RM1.69 billion.
Key players in the heavyweight sector experienced declines; Maybank decreased by two sen to RM9.93, Public Bank lost six sen to RM4.24, and CIMB Group decreased by nine sen to RM7.41. IHH Healthcare also saw a reduction of three sen to RM7.96, while Tenaga Nasional saw a slight increase of six sen to RM13.28.
In terms of active trades, Top Glove increased by one sen to 68.5 sen, and Land and General rose by half-a-sen to 18 sen. Conversely, Pharmaniaga decreased by one sen to 27.5 sen, Zetrix AI dropped two sen to 84 sen, while Tanco Holdings remained steady at 84.5 sen.
Top gainers included Nestle, which rose by 44 sen to RM98, Petronas Gas increased by 16 sen to RM19.10, and KSL Holdings gained 15 sen to RM2.85. Press Metal and Gas Malaysia also saw improvements, each advancing by six sen to RM6.17 and RM4.78, respectively.
Among the most significant losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries declined by 76 sen to RM29.96, Heineken fell by 34 sen to RM20.46, and Hong Leong Industries decreased by 32 sen to RM13.76. Allianz and United Plantations each weakened by 20 sen to RM18.06 and RM23.40, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index saw a decrease of 68.60 points to 12,062.65, while the FBMT 100 Index fell by 70.07 points to 11,783.81. The FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased by 56.35 points to 12,142.61, the FBM 70 Index dropped 154.68 points to 17,022.83, and the FBM ACE Index declined by 99.06 points to 5,199.70.
Sector-wise analysis showed the Financial Services Index falling by 142.52 points to 18,240.92, the Industrial Products and Services Index down by 1.26 points to 173.60, the Energy Index decreased by 5.47 points to 793.53, and the Plantation Index slipped by 33.08 points to 7,857.87.