KUALA LUMPUR: Profit-taking weighed on the FBM KLCI on Tuesday, with the benchmark index closing lower despite firmer regional markets.
The 30-stock index closed down 7.97 points, or 0.47% at 1,672.35. The index traded within a range of 11.44 points between an intra-day high of 1,679.26 and a low of 1,667.82 during the session.
There were 624 gainers, 506 losers and 531 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 2.7 billion shares valued at RM2.76bil.
Dealers said the pullback was largely due to profit-taking after recent gains, despite continued strength in regional markets.
Among the decliners, BLD Plantation
slid RM1.26 to RM14.62, Dutch Lady fell 36 sen to RM30.88, CIMB dropped 25 sen to RM7.99, while Hong Leong Financial Group declined 20 sen to RM19.28.
In contrast, Nestlé surged RM4.60 to RM120.30, Malaysian Pacific Industries gained 50 sen to RM32.00, United Plantations added 48 sen to RM30.48, and Insights Analytics advanced 24 sen to RM1.70.
MMAG, the most actively traded counter on Bursa Malaysia, rose 0.5 sen to 7.5 sen, with 88.23 mil shares changing hands.
Datuk Seri Farhash Wafa Salvador has ceased to be a substantial shareholder of MMAG after disposing of his entire 462 million ordinary shares at 18.9 sen apiece via a direct business transaction on Dec 31, 2025.
In terms of fund flows, foreign investors and local retailers were net sellers on Monday, offloading equities worth RM20mil and RM60mil respectively.
Local institutions emerged as net buyers with total purchases valued at RM80mil.
Currencies in the region were mostly firmer against the US dollar, with the ringgit gaining 0.62% to 4.0468, although it slipped 0.05% against the Singapore dollar to 3.1640.
Meanwhile, the MSCI emerging Asia equities index rose 1.1% to its highest level since mid-February 2021, Reuters reported.
Emerging Asian equities hovered near five-year highs on Tuesday, while Chinese stocks ended the session at their highest levels in more than a decade.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.32% to close at 52,518,08 while South Korea’s closed up 1.52% at 4,525.48.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.38% to 26,710.45.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index both gained 1.5%, closing at 4,790.69 and 4,083.67, respectively.
