Bursa Malaysia ends marginally lower amid lack of fresh catalysts

Bursa Malaysia closed slightly lower on Friday as the market lacked fresh catalysts to motivate investors, according to an analyst. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's equity research vice-president, Thong Pak Leng, expressed a cautious outlook for the market due to persistent external headwinds and foreign selling, which could hinder near-term gains.

However, the recent market correction has made certain blue-chip stocks more appealing, potentially attracting bargain hunters, particularly those focused on fundamentally strong companies. Pak Leng expects the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI to trade within the 1,660-1,690 range for the week. Meanwhile, Berjaya Research Sdn Bhd's head of research, Kenneth Leong, noted that market attention will shift to US job openings and consumer confidence data expected tomorrow.

A weaker-than-anticipated data release could provide some relief to equities, but strong labor demand or declining consumer sentiment might exacerbate market volatility. At the close of trading, the FBM KLCI fell 1.60 points, or 0.09%, to 1,670.02 from Friday's closing level of 1,671.62. The index opened 0.93 points higher at 1,672.55 during the session and fluctuated between 1,668.61 and 1,674.11.

Market breadth was negative, with more stocks declining (748) than rising (388), while 517 remained unchanged, 1,271 were untraded, and 91 were suspended. Turnover decreased to 3.11 billion units valued at RM2.40 billion from 4.07 billion units worth RM2.69 billion on Friday. Among the major players, Maybank fell 6 sen to RM10.16, Public Bank dropped 1 sen to RM4.79, CIMB gained 9 sen to RM7.99, Tenaga Nasional rose 2 sen to RM13.16, and IHH Healthcare increased 2 sen to RM8.01.

Active trade saw Zetrix AI remain unchanged at 19 sen, Jaks Resources up 1.5 sen to 18.5 sen, ACE Market debutant Evocom down 5 sen to 13 sen, Aimax up 0.5 sen to 1 sen, and Inari Amertron down 11 sen to RM2.55. The top gainers included Hong Leong Bank, which rose 22 sen to RM23.36, Hong Leong Financial, which added 18 sen to RM18.90, Ayer Holdings, which climbed 12 sen to RM7.60, Grand Central, which increased 11 sen to 42 sen, and Solarvest, which gained 10 sen to RM4.16.

The biggest losers were Malaysian Pacific Industries, which fell RM1.98 to RM42.20, United Plantations, which dropped 98 sen to RM31.60, Fraser & Neave, which declined 78 sen to RM22.22, Hong Leong Industries, which slipped 30 sen to RM16.66, and Kelington, which decreased 27 sen to RM8.72. The FBM Mid 70 Index ended 157.14 points lower at 17,687.77, while the FBM Emas Index fell 41.85 points to 12,414.79.

The FBM Top 100 Index reduced 36.51 points to 12,206.95, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 63.91 points to 12,242.32, and the FBM ACE Index decreased 42.25 points to 5,490.61. Sector-wise, financial services led the gains with a 47.89 point rise to 19,598.38, while industrial products and services lost 1.30 points at 182.80. The energy index fell slightly by 0.01 point to 861.82, and the plantation index dropped 116.38 points to 9,218.49.