Bursa opens lower as geopolitical risks, oil prices weigh on sentiment
The main index retreats to 1,611.80 as investors seek stocks poised to benefit from Budget 2027.
Bursa Malaysia opened lower on Tuesday, following Wall Street's mixed performance and the impact of geopolitical uncertainties and rising oil prices. At 9:10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 6.21 points, or 0.38%, to 1,611.80 from its previous close of 1,618.01. The index had opened 1.39 points weaker at 1,616.62.
The broader market saw more losses than gains, with 293 stocks falling and 125 rising, while 274 remained unchanged, 2,134 were untraded, and 21 suspended. Turnover totaled 263.66 million units, valued at RM130.24 million. Wall Street and Asian markets closed mixed on Monday due to increasing oil prices following an attack on Riyadh's international airport and in anticipation of the US third-quarter earnings season.
Amidst concerns about AI tech stocks and inflated valuations due to rising AI financing costs, market sentiment appeared cautious. Among the major players, Petronas Chemicals rose two sen to RM4.27, Maybank added one sen to RM9.96, and PPB increased six sen to RM9.10. Both Nestle and IOI Corporation remained flat, while UMS, MI Technovation, and Petronas Dagangan declined 28 sen, 25 sen, and 22 sen, respectively.
Among top gainers were Critical, Hengyuan Refining, MN Holdings, Oriental Interest, and United Malacca. Top losers included Malaysian Pacific and PJ Bumi, both falling 34 sen. Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 30.99 points, the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased by 1.45 points, and the Plantation Index fell by 7.04 points.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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