KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Thursday despite Bank Negara Malaysia maintaining its benchmark interest rate, with gains in semiconductor and technology stocks helping to cushion losses.
Earlier, Bank Negara Malaysia kept the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 2.75%, extending its pause in monetary policy following a 25-basis-point cut in July 2025.
The FBM KLCI closed 5.97 points, or 0.35%, lower at 1,677.64, recovering from its intraday low of 1,676.18.
Market breadth was slightly positive, with 533 gainers against 504 losers, while 547 counters were unchanged. A total of 2.64 billion shares worth RM2.19 billion changed hands.
Dealers said the OPR decision had little impact on market sentiment as it was widely anticipated. Instead, investors rotated into technology and semiconductor counters while trimming positions in selected blue-chip stocks, leaving the benchmark slightly lower.
Semiconductor and technology stocks led the gains on Bursa Malaysia, with Malaysian Pacific Industries
rising 56 sen to RM46.26, MI Technovation adding 19 sen to RM4.82, Unisem gaining 15 sen to RM4.61, Frontken climbing 11 sen to RM4.90, and UWC advancing 10 sen to RM6.40.
Among the decliners, F&N fell 72 sen to RM28.92, Hong Leong Bank lost 38 sen to RM21.70, BLD Plantation declined 36 sen to RM14.84, while Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed 28 sen to RM21.22.
ACE Market debutant SRKK AI was the most actively traded counter on Bursa Malaysia, with 103.11 million shares changing hands. The digital transformation solutions provider gained 29 sen, or 90.6%, to close at 61 sen.
In terms of fund flows, foreign investors and retailers were net buyers on Wednesday, with net purchases of RM23mil and RM22mil, respectively.
Local institutions were net sellers, recording net disposals of RM22mil.
Meanwhile, the ringgit strengthened 0.06% against the US dollar to 4.0752, but slipped 0.03% against the Singapore dollar to 3.1519.
The local currency also weakened 0.15% against the euro to 4.6572 and declined 0.47% against the pound sterling to 5.4657.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was lower by 0.3%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 1.38% to 67,743.85 while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.62% at 7,291.91.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 0.7% lower at 24,030.18 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 1.14% to 5,430.73 points.
In China, the CSI300 Index advanced 2.54% to 4,876.31, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.65% to 4,036.59.
