KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia was lower at midday today as hawkish United States Federal Reserve (US Fed) cues and ongoing Middle East tensions weigh on market sentiment.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 1.96 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 1,750.15, from Thursday’s close of 1,752.11.
The benchmark had opened 0.68 of-a-point higher at 1,752.79 and traded between 1,746.08 and 1,754.20 throughout the morning session.
The broader market was negative with losers thumping gainers 624 to 260, while 473 counters were unchanged, 1,401 were untraded, and 24 were suspended.
Market turnover stood at 1.10 billion shares worth RM1.03 billion.
In a research note, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd said the benchmark index is expected to remain range-bound, with firm resistance at the 1,771 level.
"Nonetheless, we view any pullback as temporary and constructive, reflecting de-risking and portfolio rebalancing rather than underlying fundamental weakness, underpinned by resilient gross domestic product (GDP) growth and renewed foreign inflows.
"In addition, a stronger and more durable ringgit driven by broad greenback weakness and a firmer Chinese New Year, accelerated de-dollarisation, expectations of US Fed easing and Malaysia’s improving fundamentals, government reforms and policy certainty,” it said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose by 14 sen to RM12.20. Public Bank lost three sen to RM5.03, CIMB was two sen lower at RM8.45, Tenaga Nasional dropped 10 sen to RM14.16, and IHH Healthcare fell eight sen to RM8.83.
On the most active list, Astro
Malaysia added 1.5 sen to 90 sen, while both Zetrix AI and VS Industry slid one sen to 84.5 sen and 38.5 sen, respectively. Tanco advanced two sen to RM1.46, while Bina Puri eased half-a-sen to 29.5 sen.
Besides Maybank, other top gainers included Nestle, which rose by 50 sen to RM110, while 99 Speed Mart and Chin Teck Plantations bagged 14 sen each to RM3.64 and RM10.70, respectively. IOI Properties was up 10 sen to RM3.56.
Leading decliners were PPB, which lost 26 sen to RM10.84, while Allianz Malaysia fell by 22 sen to RM22.44, Hong Leong Bank lost 18 sen to RM24, Sunway Construction tumbled 16 sen to RM6.25, and Hong Leong Industries slid 14 sen to RM19.06.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index fell 23.02 points to 12,655.45, the FBM Emas Index dropped 26.02 points to 12,834.45, the FBM Mid 70 Index slid 72.45 points to 17,759.35, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 47.31 points to 12,356.48, and the FBM ACE Index eased 28.63 points to 4,799.88.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index edged up 23.68 points to 21,588.78, while the Plantation Index fell by 2.11 points to 8,400.20, the Energy Index inched down 0.90 of a point to 773.21, and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.14 points lower at 177.36. - Bernama
