Bursa Malaysia’s key index extended its decline to close below the 1,600 support level on Wednesday as persistent selling weighed on banking heavyweights, said an analyst.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said financial blue-chip stocks dragged the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lower amid concerns over rising US bond yields which stood at 4.99%.
“The US 10-year Treasury yield subsequently climbed towards 5.0%, potentially weighing on emerging market sentiment,” he told Bernama.
Nevertheless, he said buying interest shifted towards technology, energy, industrial and construction stocks, suggesting that investors remained selective despite the cautious sentiment.
Meanwhile, IPPFA director of investment strategy and country economist Sedek Jantan said the key index closed lower as stronger-than-expected US inflation reinforced expectations of a higher-for-longer Federal Reserve policy stance, prompting investors to reassess global risk exposure.
The media reported that the US Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% month-on-month in October, above the consensus estimate of 0.3%.
Sedek said the resulting pressure on global risk sentiment could weigh on emerging-market assets, including Malaysian equities, as elevated US Treasury yields and a firmer US dollar may constrain foreign portfolio flows and increase currency volatility.
“Against this backdrop, investors on Bursa Malaysia are likely to remain cautious, with market direction increasingly influenced by external monetary developments despite the support from domestic economic fundamentals,” he added.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI slid 8.88 points or 0.55% to 1,595.19 from yesterday’s close of 1,604.07.
The benchmark index opened 2.02 points lower at 1,602.05 and fluctuated between an intraday low of 1,588.75 and a high of 1,602.54 throughout the day.
However, market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 686 to 427. Another 474 counters were unchanged, 1,187 were untraded and 12 were suspended.
Turnover climbed to 2.90 billion units valued at RM2.33 billion compared with yesterday’s 2.79 billion units valued at RM2.77 billion.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell 11 sen to RM9.95, Public Bank shed 15 sen to RM4.53, Tenaga Nasional declined 22 sen to RM12.96, and IHH Healthcare eased 1 sen to RM7.73, while CIMB was unchanged at RM7.08.
Among actively traded stocks, ACE Market debutant SKA Capital rose 6.5 sen to 49.5 sen, MMAG Holdings and Ni Hsin gained 1 sen each to 4 sen and 10.5 sen, respectively, GIIB Holdings put on 3.5 sen to 15.5 sen, while Zetrix AI lost 0.5 sen to 5.5 sen.
Among the top gainers, Nestle added 54 sen to RM95.54, UWC advanced 54 sen to RM6.68, Kelington Group added 30 sen to RM7.85, Malaysian Pacific Industries rose 62 sen to RM38.30, and MI Technovation jumped 42 sen to RM6.35.
As for the decliners, Fraser & Neave dipped RM1.46 to RM20.54, Hong Leong Bank shed 50 sen to RM21.48, Allianz Malaysia declined 30 sen to RM19.60, United Plantations erased 16 sen to RM30.24, and MISC slid 29 sen to RM7.70.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 15.18 points to 11,877.78 and the FBM Top 100 Index declined 25.63 points to 11,669.35.
In contrast, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 57.66 points to 11,871.45, the FBM ACE Index surged 96.51 points to 5,306.50, and the FBM Mid 70 Index leapt 127.93 points to 17,117.87.
Sector-wise, the financial services index dropped 252.56 points to 18,491.21. The plantation index gained 68.12 points to 8,727.93, the industrial products and services index edged up 2.03 points to 172.44, and the energy index gained 9.35 points to 789.01.
The Main Market volume trimmed to 1.38 billion units worth RM2.01 billion from 1.57 billion units worth RM2.54 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover dwindled to 773.09 million units worth RM97.32 million from 924.40 million units worth RM115.21 million previously.
The ACE Market volume jumped to 745.34 million units valued at RM227.60 million from 292.05 million units valued at RM115.46 million on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, consumer products and services counters accounted for 200.64 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (291.21 million), construction (98.31 million), technology (359.41 million), financial services (93.49 million), property (53.03 million), plantation (18.87 million), real estate investment trusts (17.89 million), closed-end fund (735,200), energy (83.79 million), healthcare (46.98 million), telecommunications and media (24.06 million), transportation and logistics (53.48 million), utilities (40.27 million), and business trusts (4,600).
