Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened marginally higher but reversed its gains soon after, influenced by the overnight performance of Wall Street. At 9:05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.28 points to 1,510.36, dipping from Tuesday’s close of 1,511.64. The benchmark index had initially opened 0.25 points higher at 1,511.89.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the broader market reflected a negative sentiment with 138 decliners surpassing 106 gainers. An additional 206 counters remained unchanged, while 1,956 were untraded and 13 suspended. The turnover at the time stood at 82.81 million shares, valued at RM37.30 million. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd’s equity research vice-president, Thong Pak Leng, attributed Wall Street’s decline to waning optimism for a swift resolution of tensions between Israel and Iran. Consequently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell by 0.7%, the S and P 500 slipped 0.84%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.91%.
In Asia, major indices showed mixed results as investors remained cautious due to the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index decreased by 0.3%, influenced by profit-taking activities following a rally on Monday. Locally, the FBM KLCI ended lower on Tuesday, with investors hesitant to take long positions due to global uncertainties and market volatility. Foreign fund outflows also contributed to dampened investor sentiment. Thong anticipated that the benchmark index would remain range-bound between 1,500 and 1,520, reflecting increased market volatility.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank, and IHH Healthcare each added 1.0 sen to RM9.56, RM4.23, and RM6.90, respectively. However, Tenaga fell by 4.0 sen to RM14.26, and CIMB declined by 3.0 sen to RM6.63. Among the most active stocks, KHPT Holdings and Velesto Energy remained flat at 13.5 sen and 18.5 sen, respectively, while Mpire Global eased by 1.0 sen to 10 sen, Alam Maritim Resources shed half-a-sen to 3.0 sen, and NexG dropped 1.5 sen to 34.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 14.46 points to 11,288.82, while the FBMT 100 Index lost 16.96 points to 11,065.58. The FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped by 2.95 points to 11,315.42, and the FBM 70 Index gave up 54.81 points to 16,168.19. Conversely, the FBM ACE Index increased by 1.85 points to 4,444.82. By sector, the Plantation Index fell by 3.91 points to 7,246.83, whereas the Energy Index rose by 6.81 points to 745.58. The Financial Services Index lost 42.65 points to 17,353.91, but the Industrial Products and Services Index saw a slight increase of 0.31 points to 150.46.