Bursa Malaysia extended its losses today as investors remained on the sidelines amid persistent uncertainties and the absence of significant market catalysts, an analyst said.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said sentiment remained cautious as investors were reluctant to establish significant long positions amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainties.
While the recent peace agreement has helped reduce immediate concerns over a broader conflict in West Asia, market participants continue to monitor developments closely as the situation remains fluid.
“Nevertheless, the recent pullback has made valuations of selected blue-chip stocks more attractive, potentially spurring bargain hunting should external conditions stabilise.
“Overall, we expect the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to move within the 1,680-1,700 range for the rest of the week,” Thong told Bernama.
Meanwhile, IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Sedek Jantan said the recent pullback in technology stocks on Wall Street have added to the heightened volatility seen in artificial intelligence (AI)-related names in recent weeks.
However, he said performance across other market segments remained relatively resilient, suggesting that investors may be gradually rotating into sectors offering more attractive valuations and stronger earnings visibility.
“In our view, such a rotation could prove supportive for domestic-oriented sectors within the Malaysian market.
“At the sector level, gains were limited, with plantation stocks emerging as one of the few bright spots amid firmer crude palm oil prices,” he said.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI declined 1.23%, or 20.92 points, to settle at its intraday low of 1,679.92 from yesterday’s close of 1,700.84.
The benchmark index opened 2.26 points better at 1,703.10, which marked its highest level for the session.
Market breadth stayed negative as decliners trounced gainers 878 to 325, while 475 counters were unchanged, 1,048 untraded and 13 suspended.
Turnover improved to 3.35 billion units valued at RM3.12 billion against 3.29 billion units worth RM2.40 billion yesterday.
Among heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals fell 21 sen to RM4.06, Maxis dropped 14 sen to RM3.24, CelcomDigi eased 10 sen to RM2.65, IOI Properties slid 11 sen to RM4.03 and PPB Group dipped 21 sen to RM9.41.
Of the most active stocks, Zetrix AI slipped 2.5 sen to 76 sen, ACE-market debutant HSS Holdings was flat at 18 sen, Top Glove slid 2 sen to 69 sen, Dagang NeXchange lost 4 sen to 42.5 sen and SKP Resources gained 2.5 sen to 30 sen.
Among top gainers, Ajinomoto advanced RM3.80 to RM19, United Plantations climbed RM1 to RM32.96, Batu Kawan garnered 76 sen to RM21.56, KLK increased 68 sen to RM21.60, and Johor Plantations jumped 9 sen to RM1.84.
In the top losers’ list, MPI gave up RM2.34 to RM46.50, UMS Integration sank 82 sen to RM8.20, Kelington slumped 44 sen to RM7.28, Hong Leong Bank fell 40 sen to RM21.72 and Sam Engineering was down 36 sen to RM4.83.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index tumbled 162.13 points to 12,440.66, the FBM Top 100 Index dipped 159.37 points to 12,277.24, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 173.01 points to 12,312.48.
The FBM Mid 70 Index declined 258.38 points to 17,778.71 and the FBM ACE Index slid 72.97 points to 4,719.68.
Sector-wise, the financial services index shrank 228.09 points to 19,773.17, the industrial products and services index eased 4.16 points to 184.18, the energy index shed 15.40 points to 747.46, while the plantation index surged 110.66 points to 8,967.72.
The Main Market volume expanded to 1.70 billion units worth RM2.79 billion from 1.65 billion units valued at RM2.06 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover decreased to 1.02 billion units valued at RM121.03 million, versus 1.07 billion units worth RM147.22 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume increased to 622.37 million units worth RM209.06 million against 559.21 million units valued at RM195.49 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 213.21 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (363.32 million), construction (107.16 million), technology (365.05 million), financial services (7.93 million), property (214.84 million), plantation (51.19 million), real estate investment trusts (21.82 million), closed-end fund (34,600), energy (59.59 million), healthcare (143.74 million), telecommunications and media (33.66 million), transportation and logistics (23.20 million), utilities (35.35 million), and business trusts (359,400).
