Bursa Malaysia remains lower at midday
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday, tracking the downbeat performances on Wall Street overnight and regional markets, amid escalating tensions in West Asia.
KUALA LUMPUR - Bursa Malaysia maintained its decline at midday, mirroring Wall Street's negative performance and regional market trends, as tensions in the Middle East escalated. At 12:30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.86 points to 1,729.50 from Tuesday's close of 1,733.36. The benchmark index began at 1,731.97 and oscillated between 1,725.95 and 1,733.44 during morning trading.
The overall market was down, with 633 stocks falling to 364 that gained. Out of 503 unchanged counters, 1,373 remained untraded, and 16 were suspended. A total of 1.91 billion units exchanged hands, valued at RM1.31 billion. Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd stated that Wall Street is expected to stay cautious as investors profit from technology stocks while managing robust hardware demand, rising treasury yields, and political uncertainty.
We anticipate weaker global tech sentiment negatively impacting the FBM KLCI, while higher oil prices could benefit certain energy stocks. Market movements were also influenced by regional indices: Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.24% to 25,533.38, Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 3.10% to 65,370.63, South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index fell 5.52% to 6,490.29, and Singapore's Straits Times Index decreased 0.22% to 5,688.91.
Key stocks included Maybank (+2 sen to RM10.64), Public Bank (+2 sen to RM5.12), IHH Healthcare (+14 sen to RM8.29), CIMB Group (-3 sen to RM7.92), and Tenaga Nasional (-10 sen to RM14.32). Among the most active, Zetrix AI (+1.5 sen to 65 sen), JAKS Resources (flat at 13 sen), Pentech Holdings (+3.5 sen to 32.5 sen), and Nexgram Holdings (-0.5 sen to 5.5 sen) were notable.
Nestle (+40 sen to RM104.10), Dutch Lady Milk Industries (+38 sen to RM31.88), and Petronas Dagangan (+30 sen to RM19.66) led the gainers, while Fraser & Neave (+12 sen to RM26.42) and Ranhill Utilities (+11 sen to RM2.82) topped the losers. Notable declines in the sector indices included the Energy Index (+0.58 points to 778.99), Industrial Products and Services Index (+0.09 points to 189.52), Plantation Index (-82.79 points to 9,293.89), and Financial Services Index (-42.77 points to 20,265.22).
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
