KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI ended marginally lower on Monday, tracking weaker regional markets as the corporate earnings season entered its final stretch amid a holiday-shortened trading week.
Bursa Malaysia will be closed on Tuesday, Aug 25, 2026, in conjunction with Maulidur Rasul.
The 30-stock benchmark index slipped 0.15 point, or 0.01%, to 1,736.33 after hitting an intraday high of 1,739.47.
Market breadth was negative, with 714 decliners outpacing 482 gainers, signalling broader selling pressure across the market. Turnover stood at 3.61 billion shares valued at RM3.04bil.
“Trading was relatively subdued as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the Maulidur Rasul holiday, while the sell-off across key regional markets also weighed on sentiment,” a dealer said.
The dealer noted that despite the benchmark index holding relatively steady, negative market breadth pointed to broader selling pressure, with investors likely to remain cautious when trading resumes on Wednesday.
PETRONAS Dagangan was the top gainer, rising 38 sen to RM20, followed by MISC, which gained 35 sen to RM8.58. Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 28 sen to RM21.92, while Sarawak Plantation climbed 28 sen to RM4.82.
In contrast, Malaysian Pacific Industries
tumbled RM1.70 to RM41.50, Allianz fell 58 sen to RM21.70, UMS Integration lost 35 sen to RM8.29, while KPJ Healthcare declined 32 sen to RM2.80.
On the forex front, the ringgit fell 0.09% against the US dollar to 4.0420 but edged up 0.02% against the Singapore dollar to 3.1820.
Meanwhile, oil prices fell more than 1% ahead of an expected U.S. announcement of additional sanctions on Iran that could further disrupt Middle East supplies.
Brent crude fell US$1.06, or 1.129%, to US$93.33 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slid US$1.52, or 1.75%, to US$85.54 per barrel.
On the external front, Japan’s Nikkei finished 0.74% lower at 65,528.09 while South Korea’s Kospi closed down 3.12% at 6,696.96.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.89% to 25,517.33. China’s CSI 300 Index declined 1.21% to 4,563.13 and the Shanghai Composite Index eased 0.59% to 3,882.01.
