Bursa Malaysia: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Tuesday, closely following Wall Street’s overnight decline as tensions between United States President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell escalated, raising investor concerns amid a worsening trade war.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 9.30 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 12.44 points, reaching 1,487.03 from Monday’s close of 1,499.47. The benchmark index had initially opened 7.03 points lower at 1,492.44. The market breadth was negative, with 351 decliners outpacing 86 gainers. Additionally, 283 counters remained unchanged, 1,705 were untraded, and 30 were suspended. The turnover amounted to 536.74 million shares valued at RM190.98 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng commented on the situation, stating that Trump’s reported intention to remove Powell could challenge the Fed’s independence. He noted that the tension between Trump and Powell has intensified, though Trump’s ability to remove Powell may be limited. Thong also mentioned that the US 10-year Treasury yield increased to 4.417 percent while the Hong Kong market resumed trading after a two-day break.
Thong further observed that foreign selling might have reduced by the FBM KLCI’s close the previous day, as indicated by the day’s trading volume, which had decreased to 1.53 billion shares, possibly the lowest for the year. While this could be seen as positive for the index, persistently low trading volumes may hinder market momentum. Thong emphasized the need for fresh catalysts in the local bourse, with local institutions expected to lead in accumulating shares at current levels.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank each declined by five sen to RM9.93 and RM4.35, respectively. Tenaga Nasional fell ten sen to RM13.38, CIMB lost 13 sen to RM6.73, and IHH Healthcare decreased by three sen to RM6.86.
In active trading, Magma increased by half-a-sen to 37.5 sen, Aumas Resources rose 2.5 sen to 80.5 sen, while Ingenieur Gudang, Jiankun International, and Peterlabs remained flat at four sen, three sen, and 29.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 78.64 points to 11,016.75, the FBMT 100 Index declined 80.55 points to 10,805.16, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 59.81 points to 10,825.26. The FBM 70 Index fell 75.66 points to 15,432.58, and the FBM ACE Index decreased by 16.32 points to 4,549.88.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 157.67 points to 17,851.48, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 0.95 of-a-point to 143.08, the Energy Index erased 4.06 points to 655.95, and the Plantation Index shed 10.12 points to 7,201.01.