KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended its subdued trading and closed lower yesterday, dragged down by persistent selling as the market was influenced by Wall Street’s sharp reaction to the introduction of China’s DeepSeek artificial intelligence (AI) model, says an analyst.
At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI slipped 6.28 points, or 0.4%, to end at 1,552.69, compared to Monday’s close of 1,558.97.
Market breadth was also negative as decliners thumped gainers 537 to 372, with 466 counters unchanged, 924 untraded and 37 suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 2.19 billion units valued at RM2.01bil, compared to 2.76 billion units valued at RM2.38bil on Monday.
UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan noted that while DeepSeek’s breakthrough could be viewed as a positive development for the AI sector, it instead heightened investor concerns.
This unease in the global markets intensified the selling pressure on the FBM KLCI.
“Within the index, only a handful of counters managed to post gains. Utilities stocks remained under selling pressure, while those linked to AI and data centres continued to decline.
“Despite these short-term challenges, Malaysia’s equity market retains significant potential for long-term growth,” he told Bernama.
According to Mohd Sedek, as global firms reassess their capital expenditure strategies, Malaysia’s data centre industry is well-positioned to benefit due to its cost-effective offerings.
