Wall Street sell-off drags Bursa lower at opening

Bursa Malaysia experienced a broad sell-off at the opening bell on Friday, as Wall Street's steep decline on Thursday continued to reverberate through the global markets. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI, the country's main benchmark index, dropped 16.50 points, or 1%, to 1,619.36, following Thursday's close of 1,635.86. While the index initially opened 15.31 points higher at 1,620.55, market breadth remained negative, with the number of falling stocks significantly outnumbering the gainers.

155 counters remained unchanged, 1,911 shares were untraded, and 10 were suspended. The overall trading volume amounted to 391.82 million units, valued at RM206.90 million. Thong Pak Leng, the vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, explained that the sharp sell-off in Wall Street stocks, particularly in AI-related companies, was causing investors to shift funds into US Treasuries.

The US 10-year Treasury yield retreated to 4.843%, reflecting the liquidity inflow into government bonds following the equity market turbulence. As a result, analysts expect the Bursa Malaysia index to remain within the 1,630-1,640 range for the day. Among the 30 component stocks, 24 experienced declines, four saw gains, and two remained level.

Notable declines included Maybank and Public Bank, which both fell by six sen to RM10.10 and RM4.90, respectively, while CIMB slipped eight sen to RM7.07. Tenaga Nasional dropped 12 sen to RM12.98, and IHH Healthcare gained five sen to RM7.77. Among the gainers, Zetrix AI climbed one sen to seven sen, VS Industry fell by two sen to 30 sen, Supermax and Dagang Nexchange each decreased by 1.5 sen to 45 sen and 38.5 sen, respectively, and Nationgate fell by 13 sen to RM1.74.

The top gainers comprised Hengyuan Refining, which rose by eight sen to RM3.13, Petronas Gas, which increased by six sen to RM17.36, Spritzer, which gained four sen to RM3.67, Eco World Development and Hibiscus Petroleum, which each added two sen to RM1.92 and RM1.93, respectively. Among the most significant losers, MPI fell by RM2.28 to RM36.60, Nestle decreased by RM1.20 to RM94.80, Kelington declined by 57 sen to RM7.37, Vitrox dropped by 48 sen to RM10.12, and UWC fell by 44 sen to RM6.15.

Various indices on the Bursa Malaysia market also recorded declines, including the FBM Emas Index, which fell by 169.54 points to 11,965.30, and the FBM Top 100 Index, which dropped by 160.67 points to 11,801.66.