KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia erased early gains to end slightly lower on Wednesday, as profit-taking emerged in selected heavyweight counters mainly in financial services and utilities sectors.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.70 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 1,683.42 from Tuesday’s close of 1,688.12.
The benchmark index opened 3.30 points higher at 1,691.42 and moved between 1,680.46 and 1,695.68 throughout the day.
However, in the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 615 to 455, while 566 counters were unchanged, 1,057 untraded and 13 suspended.
Turnover increased to 3.33 billion units worth RM3.02 billion from Tuesday’s 2.85 billion units worth RM2.67 billion.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd investment strategy director and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI opened on a firmer footing and briefly tested the 1,695 level in early trade, but momentum faded as the session progressed.
He said the market weakness was mainly centred in energy and utility-linked constituents, driven by softer crude oil prices and some short-term repositioning after recent gains in yield-oriented names.
The easing West Asia conflict, along with Brent crude oil price stabilising below US$100 per barrel, has helped create a more supportive global environment.
"The divergence between the headline index and broader market breadth suggests ongoing portfolio rebalancing rather than weakening risk appetite, with investor participation becoming more broad-based beyond just major index heavyweights,” he told Bernama.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose two sen to RM11.06, Public Bank fell four sen to RM4.60, CIMB and IHH Healthcare slipped five sen each to RM7.50 and RM8.70, respectively, while Tenaga Nasional dropped 18 sen to RM14.14.
On the most active list, ACE Market-debutant 5E Resources and V.S. Industry both edged up one sen to 27 sen and 19.5 sen, respectively, MMAG eased half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, Zetrix AI perked up two sen to 79 sen, and Velesto Energy
inched up half-a-sen to 33 sen.
Among top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries increased RM2.36 to RM33.00, Malayan Cement rose 31 sen to RM6.91, Hong Leong Industries and Fraser & Neave climbed 30 sen each to RM17.04 and RM30.10, respectively, while Itmax System jumped 25 sen to RM4.94.
As for top losers, Petronas Gas fell 36 sen to RM17.90, Petronas Chemicals slipped 27 sen to RM5.63, MISC erased 18 sen to RM8.18, and United Plantations lost 14 sen to RM33.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index went up 127.01 points to 17,503.27, the FBM ACE Index increased 42.28 points to 4,509.99, the FBM Emas Index added 3.01 points to 12,409.26, the FBM Emas Shariah Index put on 19.48 points to 12,332.07, while the FBM Top 100 Index slid 3.55 points to 12,248.34.
By sector, the Energy Index was 0.48 of-a-point higher at 824.01, the Financial Services Index declined by 24.48 points to 19,648.39, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.06 of-a-point to 187.59, and the Plantation Index fell by 38.15 points to 8,902.63.
The Main Market volume improved to 1.68 billion units valued at RM2.70 billion from Tuesday's 1.57 billion units valued at RM2.38 billion.
Warrants turnover narrowed to 813.08 million units worth RM94.77 million from 854.73 million units worth RM117.69 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume surged to 834.19 million units valued at RM232.27 million compared to 431.21 million units valued at RM167.65 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 198.33 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (289.85 million), construction (155.49 million), technology (307.55 million), financial services (73.61 million), property (174.44 million), plantation (38.06 million), real estate investment trusts (10.08 million), closed-end fund (61,000), energy (187.03 million), healthcare (112.58 million), telecommunications and media (72.25 million), transportation and logistics (25.36 million), utilities (34.48 million), and business trusts (10,700). - Bernama
