Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia stayed in negative territory at midday as investors took profit following the market's gains over the past two sessions, with selling pressure seen in industrial products, plantation, and financial stocks. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 8.11 points to 1,707.02 from Thursday's close of 1,715.13. The benchmark index opened 1.39 points lower at 1,713.74.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth was negative, with losers leading gainers 569 to 419, while 527 counters were unchanged, 1,257 untraded, and 19 suspended. Turnover totaled 2.75 billion units worth RM1.50 billion. Apex Securities Bhd highlighted the technology sector as one to watch after Nvidia's US$12.9 billion AI deal with Hugging Face lifted global sentiment toward semiconductor stocks. They also noted that energy remains a focal point, with Brent crude prices staying above US$95 a barrel amid escalating tensions in the Gulf.
The stockbroking firm commented that the construction sector deserves attention as AI and data center investments continue to drive demand for infrastructure and related construction works. Additionally, they mentioned that the recent selling pressure on banking stocks might have been excessive, suggesting that the sector warrants close monitoring. Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group gained one sen to RM8.00. Both Maybank and Tenaga Nasional eased four sen to RM10.54 and RM13.64, respectively. Public Bank slipped two sen to RM4.98, and IHH Healthcare eased one sen to RM7.98.
On the most active list, Zetrix AI rose 3.5 sen to 27.5 sen, Salutica climbed 4.5 sen to 16 sen, Cuscapi perked up one sen to six sen, Ingenieur Gudang was flat at 4.5 sen, and Tanco Holdings advanced 2.5 sen to 20.5 sen. Among the top gainers, Nestle garnered 60 sen to RM95.08, Fraser and Neave increased 42 sen to RM24.80, Critical Holdings jumped 15 sen to RM2.02, Sunway Construction put on 12 sen to RM7.95, and Mega First Corporation rose 11 sen to RM2.93.
Among the top losers, United Plantations decreased 60 sen to RM32.42, Malaysian Pacific Industries slipped 52 sen to RM39.08, Petronas Gas and Hong Leong Bank both fell 26 sen to RM17.36 and RM23.62, respectively, while SD Guthrie declined 18 sen to RM6.22. On the index board, the FBM ACE Index climbed 24.86 points to 5,212.52, while the FBM Emas Index sank 60.64 points to 12,622.70, the FBMT 100 Index slumped 63.16 points to 12,428.28, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 77.44 points to 12,365.13, and the FBM 70 Index dipped 107.92 points to 17,797.36. Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shrank 56.84 points to 20,149.99, and the Plantation Index tumbled 120.03 points to 9,373.99, while the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 1.48 points to 185.68, and the Energy Index shed 3.20 points to 806.83.