Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia experienced a downturn at the start of trading on Friday, following a strong performance the previous day. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased by 2.64 points to 1,714.50 from Thursday's close of 1,717.14, after opening slightly lower at 1,715.84.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the market showed a negative breadth with 129 decliners surpassing the 125 gainers. A total of 281 counters remained unchanged, 2,195 were untraded, and 21 were suspended. The turnover was reported at 105.66 million shares, valued at RM75.33 million.
Mohd Sedek Jantan, director of investment strategy and country economist at IPPFA Sdn Bhd, stated that the lower opening of the benchmark index was a result of short-term profit-taking following a strong advance on Wednesday. He suggested that this early retracement was driven by positioning and gain-locking rather than any fundamental deterioration, indicating a cautious pause by investors after the recent market rally.
He also mentioned that this movement was consistent with their weekly outlook, which had predicted a modest, range-bound trading environment. Despite near-term volatility, Friday-to-Friday data indicated gradual market improvement, with the FBM KLCI closing at 1,712.74 the previous Friday. This suggests that the underlying momentum remains intact.
As the trading session progresses, Mohd Sedek anticipates momentum rebuilding through selective accumulation, fostering a balanced and stabilizing trading pattern.
Among the heavyweight stocks, Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare both fell by four sen to RM13.82 and RM8.45, respectively. Hong Leong Bank dropped six sen to RM24.14, while Petronas Dagangan and MISC remained unchanged at RM21.20 and RM7.83.
On the most active list, Nationgate increased by two sen to RM1.21, AirAsia X rose by one sen to RM1.67, Velesto Energy and Iconic Worldwide each gained half a sen to 32 sen and eight sen, and Capital A added 1.5 sen to 53.5 sen.
Top gainers included Kobay Technology, which rose 14 sen to RM1.86, Tradeplus Shariah Gold Tracker and Kein Hing International, each up nine sen to RM6.08 and RM1.30, NCT Alliance up 3.5 sen to 62 sen, and Heitech Padu, which added three sen to RM1.73.
Among the leading decliners, Nestle fell 50 sen to RM116.50, PPB Group and Scientex each dropped eight sen to RM11.12 and RM3.82, while Ta Ann Holdings and Hong Leong Bank were both down six sen to RM4.33 and RM24.14.
In the broader market, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 10.36 points to 12,638.98, the FBM Top 100 Index fell 12.64 points to 12,430.92, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 9.71 points to 12,305.54. Conversely, the FBM Mid 70 Index gained 11.43 points to 17,594.17, and the FBM ACE Index rose by 9.70 points to 4,947.00.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 23.73 points to 20,732.53, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.28 of-a-point to 176.58, while the Energy Index advanced 2.91 points to 781.29, and the Plantation Index increased by 0.75 of-a-point to 8,359.37.