KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Monday, weighed down by selling pressure in selected heavyweights, mainly utilities and banking stocks, alongside weaker performances across regional markets.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 7.20 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 1,604.36 from last Friday’s close of 1,611.56.
The benchmark index opened 0.44 of a point firmer at 1,612.00, its highest level today, before hitting its lowest level of 1,600.45 during the late afternoon session.
However, the broader market was slightly positive, with gainers edging losers 549 to 514, while 508 counters were unchanged, 1,330 untraded, and 59 suspended.
Turnover fell to 2.90 billion units worth RM2.15 billion from last Friday’s 3.18 billion units worth RM2.69 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said selling pressure persisted in utility and banking heavyweights amid thin trading volume.
He noted that regional markets ended broadly lower, weighed down by weakness in technology stocks as investors questioned the sustainability of substantial spending on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and the potential returns on such investments.
"Back home, buying interest shifted towards energy stocks, supported by persistently high crude oil prices. We believe bargain hunting will emerge given the recent weakness, particularly in stocks that have corrected sharply despite having sound fundamentals.
"Nevertheless, subdued liquidity, elevated oil prices and uncertainty ahead of the United States (US) Federal Reserve's policy decision this week could limit any rebound. We expect the FBM KLCI to trade within 1,590-1,620 for the week,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweight stocks, Maybank fell eight sen to RM9.98, Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional each trimmed two sen to RM4.73 and RM13.28, respectively, CIMB lost five sen to RM7.10, and IHH Healthcare gave up six sen to RM7.84.
In active trade, Zetrix AI was flat at 7.5 sen, Ni Hsin
and JAKS Resources slipped1.5 sen each to 47.5 sen and 15 sen, respectively, while Axteria gained 5.5 sen to 19.5 sen, and Nexgram edged up half a sen to six sen.
Nestle led the top gainers, rising 72 sen to RM90.26, Malaysian Pacific Industries garnered 58 sen to RM40.58, both Stratus Global and ViTrox Corporation climbed 26 sen to RM2.60 and RM10.72, respectively, and PPB Group added 24 sen to RM9.02.
Among the top losers, United Plantations fell 50 sen to RM29.90, YTL Power decreased 36 sen to RM4.96, Country View slid 20 sen to RM2.66, while Sarawak Plantation and Far East declined 14 sen each to RM4.15 and RM3.95, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index erased 16.45 points to 11,977.0 and the FBM Top 100 Index slid 22.67 points to 11,774.94.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 31.22 points higher at 11,974.79 and the FBM ACE Index advanced 47.52 points to 5,393.66, while the FBM Mid 70 Index rose 93.21 points to 17,263.54.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index notched up 0.01 of a point to 175.41 and the Energy Index improved 14.06 points to 848.73, but the Financial Services Index declined 80.46 points to 18,573.86 and the Plantation Index tumbled 53.51 points to 8,623.97.
The Main Market volume slipped to 1.46 billion units worth RM1.88 billion from 1.69 billion units worth RM2.18 billion last Friday.
Warrants turnover narrowed to 1.0 billion units worth RM119.65 million against 1.05 billion units worth RM135.55 million previously.
However, the ACE Market volume expanded to 441.55 million units valued at RM148.63 million from 432.38 million units valued at RM153.16 million on Friday.
Meanwhile, consumer products and services counters accounted for 198.30 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (227.26 million), construction (126.27 million), technology (341.20 million), financial services (50.02 million), property (137.70 million), plantation (23.60 million), real estate investment trusts (10.16 million), closed-end fund (27,000), energy (129.56 million), healthcare (88.21 million), telecommunications and media (20.09 million), transportation and logistics (30.40 million), utilities (74.60 million), and business trusts (75,300). - Bernama
