KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia eked out a marginal gain on Friday, but the FBM KLCI still ended the week firmly in the red amid a broadly weaker regional market.
The FBM KLCI edged up 0.51 of a point, or 0.03%, to 1,630.87. The benchmark index traded between 1,630.63 and 1,640.78 during the session.
For the week, the index lost 39.15 points, or 2.34%, with three out of five trading days ending in the red.
Winners and losers were closely balanced, with 592 gainers against 554 losers, while 562 counters were unchanged. About 4.25 billion shares valued at RM2.71bil changed hands.
Dealers expect trading to remain subdued in the absence of fresh catalysts, with investors likely to stay on the sidelines ahead of Budget 2027 next Friday.
Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries
rose RM1.28 to RM42.40, UWC gained 47 sen to RM7.57, ViTrox added 46 sen to RM10.46, United Plantations climbed 42 sen to RM31.38, while UMS Integration advanced 38 sen to RM9.03.
In contrast, Nestle fell 48 sen to RM89.52, KLK lost 42 sen to RM21, Enra shed 25.5 sen to 72.5 sen, while Allianz and Hong Leong Bank declined 20 sen each to RM20.80 and RM22.64, respectively.
Zetrix AI plunged 30.3%, or 5 sen, to 11.5 sen. The counter was the most actively traded, with a hefty 1.056 billion shares changing hands.
It was reported that the company is believed to owe the Road Transport Department more than RM200mil in unremitted collections.
In terms of fund flows, foreign investors were net sellers on Thursday, offloading RM188mil worth of equities.
Local institutions and retailers were net buyers, with net purchases of RM70mil and RM118mil, respectively.
West Texas Intermediate crude fell US$3.37, or 3.63%, to US$89.50 a barrel, while Brent dropped US$3.05, or 2.98%, to US$99.26 amid recovering Middle Eastern supplies.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan index declined 0.15%, with most major markets closing lower.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.94% to 68,309.46, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 2.6% to 23,972.29, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index slid 0.6% to 5,633.88.
In contrast, Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.25% to 48,475.74 and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.46% to 7,003.74.
Reuters reported that Indonesian stocks were headed for their worst week in more than three months on Friday, weighed down by a new exchange rule.
Chinese markets were closed for the National Day holiday from Oct 1 to 7.
