Bursa: Bursa Malaysia opened on a positive note on Tuesday but quickly lost momentum, influenced by a weaker performance on Wall Street the previous day. At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 7.84 points to 1,718.04 from last Friday's close of 1,725.88, despite opening 1.61 points higher at 1,727.49.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth was negative with 352 losers outnumbering 188 gainers. Additionally, 319 counters remained unchanged, 1,922 were untraded, and 24 were suspended. Turnover stood at 788.49 million shares valued at RM318.30 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng commented on Wall Street's lower closing, attributed to escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, which led to increases in both crude oil prices and bond yields. He noted that while crude oil prices stayed high, the US 10-year Treasury yield slightly increased to 4.754 per cent.

Thong also anticipated that bargain-hunting activities on the FBM KLCI might occur today, with the index likely to fluctuate between 1,720 and 1,735 points. Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group saw an increase of two sen to RM7.98, whereas Maybank decreased by 12 sen to RM10.56. Tenaga Nasional dropped by 30 sen to RM13.84, IHH Healthcare declined by three sen to RM8.22, and Public Bank remained unchanged at RM4.95.

On the most active list, Zetrix AI fell by six sen to 23.5 sen. In contrast, Ni Hsin Group and HHRG gained 1.5 sen each, reaching 21 sen and 14.5 sen, respectively. Tanco Holdings slipped by two sen to 16.5 sen, while GIIB Holdings increased by half a sen to 48.5 sen.

Among the top gainers, Hengyuan Refining rose by 43 sen to RM2.38, Kuala Lumpur Kepong climbed by 28 sen to RM22.28, Petronas Dagangan increased by 18 sen to RM20.48, Sarawak Oil Palms gained 12 sen to RM5.47, and Telekom Malaysia added nine sen to RM7.81.

Conversely, top losers included Nestle, which tumbled by 76 sen to RM99.34, Malaysian Pacific Industries fell by 30 sen to RM41.26, United Plantations decreased by 26 sen to RM31.68, RHB Bank declined by 23 sen to RM8.45, and LPI Capital slipped by 20 sen to RM13.28.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 48.56 points to 12,716.07, the FBM Top 100 Index declined by 50.14 points to 12,524.71, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped by 49.99 points to 12,502.10. The FBM Mid 70 Index eased 42.21 points to 18,004.68, while the FBM ACE Index shed 28.62 points to 5,220.76.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index advanced by 19.29 points to 9,328.95, and the Energy Index improved by 9.81 points to 788.19. However, the Financial Services Index fell by 98.74 points to 20,144.73, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 0.21 of a point to 189.06.