KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia extended its slide to a fourth consecutive session on Friday as persistent selling and cautious sentiment dampened investor appetite.
The FBM KLCI tumbled 24.33 points, or 1.4%, its biggest drop since Jan 29, 2026, when it fell 1.46%, to 1,716.61 after trading between an intraday high of 1,737.06 and a low of 1,714.09. For the month, the index declined 1.39%.
In the broader market, decliners decisively outpaced advancers, 842 to 376, resulting in a market breadth of 0.45 as selling pressure firmly dominated the session.
A dealer said cautious sentiment and continued foreign selling kept the FBM KLCI under pressure.
He added that weak market breadth reflected broad-based selling across the market.
Among the decliners, Nestle slid 90 sen to RM109.90, Hong Leong Financial Group fell 60 sen to RM21.30, Hong Leong Bank lost 56 sen to RM23.28 and United Plantations declined 48 sen to RM29.52.
On the other hand, F&N jumped RM1.44 to RM34.94, UWC added 39 sen to RM4.50, Hume Cement Industries rose 36 sen to RM3.88 and Hong Leong Industries climbed 34 sen to RM18.72.
In terms of fund flows, foreign investors were net sellers, disposing of RM84mil worth of equities on Thursday.
Local institutions and retailers turned net buyers, with net purchases totalling RM9mil and RM75mil, respectively.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 3.8900, down 0.01% against the US dollar, but remained one of the region’s top performers, appreciating more than 4% so far this year.
The local currency edged up 0.08% to 3.0756 against the Singapore dollar.
Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index fell 0.37%, with most regional bourses ending mixed. Among the key regional markets:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 0.16% to 58,850.27;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.95% to 26,630.54;
China’s CSI300 Index fell 0.34% to 4,710.65;
Taiwan’s Taiex finished flat at 35,414.49;
South Korea’s Kospi lost 1% to 6,244.13 and;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.59% to 4,993.44 points.
