Bursa Malaysia ends lower despite stronger-than-expected 6pc GDP growth
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 — Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday, even as utilities, healthcare, and financ...
Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday, despite Malaysia's stronger-than-expected 6.0% GDP growth in the second quarter of 2026. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index slipped 7.32 points to 1,727.39, down from 1,734.71 the previous day. The benchmark index opened slightly higher at 1,734.72 and traded between 1,726.77 and 1,734.72 throughout the day.
The broader market saw more losers than gainers, with 619 stocks falling and 538 rising. Turnover slowed to 3.50 billion units valued at RM2.59 billion, compared to 3.51 billion units valued at RM3.05 billion the prior day. Mohd Sedek Jantan, director of investment strategy and country economist at IPPFA Sdn Bhd, noted that the market had already priced in the positive GDP growth.
Investors are now focusing on the sustainability of second-half 2026 growth and its conversion into corporate earnings, rather than just the headline GDP figure. Among the key companies, Maybank and CIMB Group remained flat, while Public Bank fell three sen to RM5.13. Tenaga Nasional dipped two sen to RM14.48, and IHH Healthcare lost seven sen to RM8.20.
The most actively traded stocks included JAKS Resources and Tanco Holdings, which both rose 1.5 sen to 10.5 sen and 26 sen, respectively.
Written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
