Bursa ends marginally lower ahead of US Fed rate decision
Bursa Malaysia ended marginally lower today as investors remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate decision later tonight.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed slightly lower amid persistent selling in telecommunications, consumer, and plantation counters, although losses were capped by strong support around the 1,610 level.
“The benchmark index remained well supported above the 1,600-point level, reflecting the underlying resilience despite cautious sentiment ahead of the crucial policy announcement,” he told Bernama.
Regionally, Thong added that key markets ended mixed, with buying interest seen in technology and artificial intelligence-related stocks, while commodity-linked counters experienced profit-taking.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI slid 2.02 points, or 0.13% to 1,611.54 from yesterday’s close of 1,613.56.
The benchmark index opened 1.01 points higher at 1,614.57 and moved between 1,606.44 and 1,617.02 throughout the trading session.
Market breadth was negative with 546 losers beating 443 gainers, while 529 counters were unchanged, 1,218 untraded and 77 suspended.
Turnover dwindled to 2.73 billion units worth RM2.37 billion compared with 3.86 billion units worth RM3.03 billion yesterday.
Among the heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional rose 8 sen to RM13.30, while Maybank and CIMB Group inched down 1 sen each to RM9.87 and RM7.38, respectively. Public Bank lost 2 sen to RM4.19 and IHH Healthcare decreased 3 sen to RM8.25.
On the most active list, Zetrix AI slid 2 sen to 81.5 sen, Perak Transit eased 1 sen to 38.5 sen, and Ekovest trimmed 2.5 sen to 35.5 sen, while Tanco Holdings added 2 sen to 92.5 sen and Borneo Oil was flat at 0.5 sen.
Top gainers included Nestle, which surged RM2.10 to RM109.20, Malayan Cement rose 33 sen to RM6.75, Chin Teck Plantations advanced 32 sen to RM11.32, United Plantations climbed 20 sen to RM24.28 and Dufu Technology gained 15 sen to RM1.88.
Among top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries dropped 50 sen to RM31.12, Bintulu Port Holdings declined 21 sen to RM5.05, Petronas Dagangan shed 16 sen to RM22.30, Ecomate Holdings slipped 11 sen to RM1.41 and Dutch Lady dipped 10 sen to RM26.20.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 12.39 points to 12,053.70, the FBMT 100 Index slid 14.80 points to 11,792.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 12.43 points to 12,139.57, and the FBM 70 Index slipped 21.53 points to 17,161.99, while the FBM ACE Index soared 45.31 points to 5,225.56.
By sector, the financial services index sank 23.70 points to 18,169.60, and the plantation index declined 17.09 points to 7,961.99, while the industrial products and services index added 1.22 points to 172.17, and the energy index perked up 1.94 points to 775.02.
The Main Market volume dipped to 1.99 billion units valued at RM2.18 billion from 2.01 billion units valued at RM2.68 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover tumbled to 352 million units worth RM31 million compared with 1.34 billion units worth RM152.13 million previously.
The ACE Market volume shrank to 368.17 million units valued at RM157.61 million from 502.65 million units valued at RM193.25 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 479.43 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (405.01 million), construction (141.07 million), technology (318.67 million) financial services (45.66 million), property (220.13 million), plantation (28.33 million), real estate investment trusts (24.99 million), closed-end fund (15,400), energy (102.83 million), healthcare (110.74 million), telecommunications and media (61.15 million), transportation and logistics (29.84 million), utilities (28.19 million), and business trusts (69,000).
