KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's blue-chip stocks held up despite growing unease over renewed hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz although the broader market succumbed to selling pressure.
The benchmark FBM KLCI was down just 2.08 points to 1,737.69, a mild decline amid subdued regional trading as the Japan and South Korean markets were closed for national holidays.
Across the causeway, Singapore's Straits Times index dropped 0.4% or over 20 points to 4,902, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.16% to 25,793.
The domestic market registered 650 declining issues compared to 359 gainers as traders lost their appetite for lower-liners in favour of defensive plays. Turnover was 1.48 billion shares changing hands for RM1.04bil.
Only three sectors stayed afloat, namely plantations, telcos, and transport and logistics. Utility and healthcare shares recorded the steepest losses of 0.5% and 0.2% respectively.
Among Malaysia's heavyweight stocks, Nestle slid RM1.80 to RM102, Sunway dropped 13 sen to RM5.32 and Hong Leong Bank slid 22 sen to RM22.08.
PETRONAS Chemicals climbed 15 sen to MR5.85 while CIMB jumped 13 sen to RM7.82.
Of active stocks, Zetrix AI slid one sen to 85 sen, GIIB rose three sen to 19 sen and Tanco was up one sen to RM1.62.
