Bursa malaysia: Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Thursday, influenced by mild profit-taking following recent gains and reflecting weaker overnight trends from Wall Street. At 9:05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased by 0.90 points to 1,710.01 from Wednesday's close of 1,710.91, after opening 0.56 points lower at 1,710.35.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering decliners 137 to 121. A total of 287 counters remained unchanged, while 2,093 were untraded and 21 were suspended. Turnover amounted to 132.70 million shares valued at RM52.98 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng commented that Wall Street ended lower in a volatile session as investors remained cautious amid various challenges linked to US policies under US President Donald Trump. He noted that the FBM KLCI managed to close previously at a seven-year high, driven by sustained foreign buying. He anticipates continued foreign participation, with the benchmark index likely to trade within the range of 1,705 to 1,715.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank rose by two sen to RM11.06, and Tenaga Nasional gained four sen to RM13.86. Public Bank fell by one sen to RM4.66, while CIMB eased by four sen to RM8.31. IHH remained unchanged at RM8.45.
In terms of the most active stocks, Focus Dynamics increased by half a sen to one sen, and Capital A strengthened by 2.5 sen to 57 sen. Meanwhile, TWL, MMAG, and Ingenieur remained flat at 2.5 sen, five sen, and 3.5 sen respectively.
Top gainers included Allianz and Hong Leong Industries, which rose by 16 sen each to RM20.36 and RM16.96. Malaysia Smelting added 10 sen to RM2.18, Malayan Cement improved by six sen to RM7.74, and IJM gained five sen to RM2.85.
Leading decliners were Nestle, down by 70 sen to RM117.80, Petronas Dagangan, down by 42 sen to RM20.58, Fibromat, down by 6.5 sen to 78.5 sen, Alliance Bank, down by six sen to RM5.47, and QL Resources, down by four sen to RM3.91.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index slipped by 0.43 points to 12,626.04, and the FBM Top 100 Index fell by 2.35 points to 12,411.39, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose by 7.85 points to 12,355.43. The FBM Mid 70 Index gained 15.43 points to 17,624.95, and the FBM ACE Index added 1.71 points to 4,987.66.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped by 18.78 points to 20,465.30, the Energy Index rose by 2.63 points to 792.25, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up by 0.15 points to 174.98, and the Plantation Index fell by one point to 8,527.70.