KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian stock prices were slow to move off the starting line on Friday as traders digested recent developments, while awaiting a tide of corporate results that will be released next month.
As at 9.12am, the benchmark FBM KLCI was up a marginal 0.12 points to 1,611.28. Notable early winners were CIMB up seven sen to RM6.96 and IHH gaining four sen to RM7.89.
Investors on Bursa Malaysia are on tenterhooks amid the external and domestic uncertainties.
According to Apex Securities, the AI trade in the US came under renewed pressure following disappointing developments from Alphabet and Intel, which dragged on the Nasdaq.
This comes amid heightened geopolitical risk, with the US flagging potential action against Iran only after the Nov 3 midterm elections.
On the home front, investors are turning anxious over the 3Q26 corporate earnings and portfolio positioning ahead of the KLCI’s phased expansion from 30 to 50 constituents.
This is compounded by the political overhang from Sarawak’s dissolved state assembly ahead of its 13th state election and the 14 November Melaka polls.
"We expect the FBM KLCI to remain range-bound with a selective defensive bias in the near term, as investors weigh external and domestic uncertainties, including lingering political uncertainty ahead of GE16," said the research firm in its market outlook.
Leading actives included Zetrix down one sen to seven sen, JAKS Resources falling one sen to 14 sen and GIIB diving 12.5 sen to 41.5 sen.
