Kuala Lumpur:Bursa Malaysia began the trading day on a lower note, reflecting Wall Street's mixed performance as higher US Treasury yields and ongoing tensions in West Asia affected investor sentiment.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 3.74 points, or 0.22 percent, to 1,647.43 at 9.10 am on Thursday, down from the previous day's close of 1,651.17. The index had opened 1.30 points lower at 1,649.87.
The broader market saw 200 decliners outpacing 142 gainers, with 307 counters unchanged, 2,124 untraded, and 12 suspended. The turnover was 246.59 million shares, valued at RM118.14 million.
Thong Pak Leng, Vice-President of Equity Research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, noted that Wall Street's mixed close was influenced by softer inflation, which eased the expectations of another US Federal Reserve rate hike, although elevated bond yields still weighed on market sentiment. Domestically, Thong indicated that the market may trade cautiously due to weak market breadth and recent foreign selling, suggesting continued investor caution. He anticipates the index to consolidate within the 1,640-1,660 range, with bargain hunting providing some support.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and IHH Healthcare remained unchanged at RM9.90 and RM7.83, respectively. Public Bank decreased by three sen to RM4.67, CIMB fell one sen to RM7.78, and Tenaga Nasional dropped two sen to RM12.94.
In more active trading, new ACE Market entrant GB Bond fell half a sen to 24.5 sen, while VS Industry remained steady at 28 sen. Astro Malaysia increased by half a sen to six sen, Jaks Resources gained one sen to 21.5 sen, and Divfex rose two sen to 11 sen.
Top gainers included Keck Seng, which advanced 11 sen to RM5.14, and Petron Malaysia, which rose seven sen to RM3.47. Hengyuan Refining and Spritzer each gained six sen to RM3.62 and RM3.67, respectively, while Jati Tinggi strengthened five sen to RM1.44.
Leading the decliners, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dropped 18 sen to RM22.02, UWC decreased 15 sen to RM6.92, and both Insights Analytics and MISC fell nine sen to RM1.20 and RM7.55, respectively. Petronas Dagangan lost eight sen to RM19.20.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index fell 42.26 points to 17,532.41, the FBM Emas Index declined 26.32 points to 12,265.69, and the FBM Top 100 Index shed 27.82 points to 12,056.62. The FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 22.09 points to 12,154.26, while the FBM ACE Index decreased by 6.31 points to 5,527.97.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.10 point to 180.31, the Energy Index gained 1.41 points to 847.11, the Financial Services Index fell 27.47 points to 19,189.02, and the Plantation Index retreated 33.34 points to 9,163.33.