Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia opened on a downward trend as investors engaged in profit-taking activities following recent market gains and evaluated the impact of the US Federal Reserve's decision to maintain interest rates at their current level.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) experienced a decline of 9.39 points, settling at 1,747.10. This was after an initial drop of 3.18 points at the opening, compared to the previous day's closing figure of 1,756.49.
The broader market reflected a similar trend with 196 counters registering losses against 146 gainers, while 352 counters remained unchanged. Additionally, 2,025 counters were untraded and 109 were suspended. The market turnover was recorded at 171.45 million shares, valued at RM133.98 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, noted that Wall Street exhibited a mixed session after the Fed's rate decision, highlighting economic resilience and stable unemployment rates. Thong described the decline in the FBM KLCI as a healthy correction following a strong performance at the start of the year.
Thong expressed hope that any rebound in the market would not be delayed to prevent erosion of market vitality. He also mentioned that foreign funds, recently withdrawn from Indonesia due to a potential MSCI downgrade, might find Malaysia an appealing alternative market.
Thong anticipated that the index would trend between 1,750 and 1,770 throughout the day.
Among the heavyweight stocks, Maybank and IHH Healthcare saw declines of 12 sen each, closing at RM11.68 and RM8.90, respectively. Public Bank fell by four sen to RM4.91, CIMB decreased by three sen to RM8.62, and Tenaga Nasional slipped by two sen to RM14.06.
On the active list, Velesto Energy decreased by half-a-sen to 30 sen, DXN Holding fell by 1.5 sen to 49.5 sen, TWL Holdings gained half-a-sen to 2.5 sen, while both Hong Seng Consolidated and Niche Capital Emas remained unchanged at half-a-sen and 11.5 sen, respectively.
Top gainers included Tradeplus Shariah Gold Tracker, which rose by 26 sen to RM6.55; Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia, up 13 sen to RM7.396; Kuala Lumpur Kepong, increasing by 12 sen to RM19.80; and Ta Ann, which added 10 sen to RM4.65.
Leading decliners were Nestle, down 20 sen to RM113.30; Telekom Malaysia and RHB Bank, each down six sen to RM7.85 and RM8.26, respectively; and IOI Corporation, down five sen to RM4.06.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index dropped 50.08 points to 12,607.10, the FBM Emas Index fell 46.92 points to 12,795.47, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased by 34.02 points to 12,362.25. In contrast, the FBM ACE Index rose by 12.69 points to 4,759.45, and the FBM Mid 70 Index increased by 10.07 points to 17,573.30.
In the sectoral indices, the Financial Services Index declined by 121.93 points to 21,385.75, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down by 0.32 of-a-point to 177.69, and the Plantation Index dropped 38.66 points to 8,406.12. Meanwhile, the Energy Index inched up by 0.12 of-a-point to 757.55.