KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower as investors took profits following the recent rebound, with telecommunications and industrial stocks leading the decline, said an analyst.
At 5 pm yesterday, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 11.02 points to 1,737.15, compared with Wednesday’s close of 1,748.17. The benchmark index opened 1.48 points higher at 1,749.65, its intraday high, and hit a low of 1,733.38 in the afternoon session.
On the broader market, decliners led advancers 575 to 567, while 573 counters were unchanged, 1,028 untraded and 13 suspended.
Turnover slipped to 3.24 billion units valued at RM2.90 billion from 3.89 billion units valued at RM3.80 billion on Wednesday.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said regionally, Asian equities ended lower as the previous session’s technology-led rally lost momentum, prompting investors to lock in gains after the recent rebound in semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related stocks.
On global developments, he said despite improving geopolitical sentiment, buying interest remained subdued as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of today’s US non-farm payrolls report, a key indicator that could shape expectations for the Federal Reserve’s policy path.
“Progress towards a potential US-Iran agreement and softer crude oil prices have helped ease inflation concerns, while weakerthan-expected US private sector hiring reinforced expectations of a moderating labour market,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased two sen to RM10.80, Public Bank and CIMB Group dropped four sen to RM5.23 and RM7.97, respectively, Tenaga Nasional erased 18 sen to RM14.48, and IHH Healthcare put on one sen to RM8.33.
Among active stocks, Malaysian Resources Corp inched up three sen to 34 sen, Zetrix AI climbed two sen to 71 sen, and JCY International gained six sen to 47 sen, while Steel Hawk decreased four sen to 14 sen and Tanco was flat at 25.5 sen.
Malaysian Pacific Industries led the gainers, rising 72 sen to RM47.66, UWC leapt 31 sen to RM6.79, IJM Corp jumped 17 sen to RM2.66, and Theta Edge soared 16 sen to 71 sen.
As for the top losers, Nestle dipped RM1.20 to RM101.30, Hong Leong Industries decreased 34 sen to RM17.68, Press Metal Aluminium lost 32 sen to RM7.99, Petronas Gas slid 26 sen to RM17.18, and United Plantations sank 20 sen to RM34.20. – BERNAMA
