KUALA LUMPUR: The profit-taking on Bursa Malaysia continued on Monday as the market remained caught within a consolidation phase.
The benchmark index slipped 2.63 points to 1,610.62, as investors remained quick to lock in profits amid an absence of strong buying leads.
On Friday, Wall Street stocks rose after Novembers jobs data came in higher than expected, although it is not expected to deter Federal Reserve officials from another rate cut this month.
However, Rakuten Trade remains optimistic over a rally as the market approaches the year-end.
"Though the index is still stuck within the consolidation phase, we remain hopeful that
accumulation of stocks to continue as the local bourse is currently hovering at alluring valuations of 14.5x PER based on 2025 figures.
"As such, we expect the index to hover within the 1,615-1,625 range today," the research firm said in a note.
Among the early laggards, PETRONAS Dagangan dropped 26 sne to RM20.14, Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed 38 sne to RM21.42 and CIMB dropped seven sen to RM8.10.
Gamuda shed 16 sen to RM9.08, PPB fell 10 sen to RM12.80 and KLCC slid six sen to RM7.96.
Of actives, Zentech was flat at one sen, Hong Seng dropped 0.5 sen to one sen and MYEG rose 2.5 sen to 94.5 sen.
