KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI tumbled below the psychological 1,600-point level on Monday, hitting its lowest in more than a year as persistent foreign selling and global uncertainties continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
At 5pm, the 30-stock index fell 12.01 points, or 0.75%, to 1,595.75, its lowest level since September 2025. The index moved between 1,604.90 and 1,592.10 throughout the day.
Selling pressure swept across Bursa Malaysia, with losers overwhelming gainers 741 to 322, reflecting widespread weakness across the market. A total of 2.494 billion shares worth RM2.39bil changed hands.
Dealers said persistent foreign fund outflows and cautious investor sentiment continued to weigh on the local market, with selling pressure extending across banking and other heavyweight stocks.
They said market sentiment was expected to remain guarded, with the benchmark index likely to take its cue from regional market performance amid ongoing global uncertainties.
Among the biggest losers, KLCCP Stapled Group plunged 84 sen, or 9.11%, to RM8.38, followed by MISC, which tumbled 41 sen to RM8.35, and United Plantations, which shed 36 sen to RM30.24.
Allianz fell 34 sen to RM19.46, Heineken declined 32 sen to RM12.92, while Hong Leong Financial Group lost 28 sen to RM17.56.
Bucking the market downturn, Nestle topped the gainers' list, rising 58 sen to RM89.90, followed by Ayer, which gained 25 sen to RM7.85, and Press Metal
, which climbed 18 sen to RM6.68.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 16 sen to RM20.16, while IGB and PETRONAS Dagangan gained 14 sen each to RM2.40 and RM19.78, respectively.
Among the banks, Hong Leong Bank fell 20 sen to RM21.10, AmBank shed 16 sen to RM6.19, Public Bank declined 12 sen to RM4.71, RHB Bank lost 12 sen to RM7.20, Maybank slipped nine sen to RM9.90, while CIMB eased five sen to RM7.15.
On the forex front, the ringgit eased 0.02% against the US dollar to 4.0825 but edged up 0.02% to 3.1899 against the Singapore dollar.
Meanwhile, Brent crude slid US$1.61, or 1.47%, to US$108.25 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 53 cents, or 0.52%, to US$100.88 per barrel.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was lower by 0.02%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.62% to 64,916.7 while South Korea’s Kospi closed up 1.76% at 5,768.01.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 0.52% higher at 24,186.83 and Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.61% to 46,822.08.
China’s CSI300 index added 0.09% to 4,174.53 while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.39% to 3,730.92.
