Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said that despite stronger performances in major markets such as Hong Kong, China and Japan, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended lower in line with the broader regional emerging market declines.
He added that investors’ focus shifted to the upcoming vote in the US on a President Donald Trump-backed tax reform, alongside potential developments in trade talks.
“Fundamentally, the mid-term prospects remain positive, supported by compelling valuations, stronger corporate earnings and a recovering economy.
“Hence, we see the FBM KLCI trending within the 1,540-1,570 range for the remainder of the week,” he told Bernama.
Thong noted that selling pressures were seen on consumer, banks and plantation stocks, with buying on energy, property and REITs.
At 5pm, the benchmark index fell 7.27 points, or 0.47%, to 1,548.87 from yesterday’s close of 1,556.14.
The benchmark index had opened 0.78 of-a-point higher at 1,556.92 and fluctuated between 1,545.77 and 1,561.10 throughout the trading session.
In the broader market, gainers edged losers 478 to 458, while 496 counters were unchanged, 977 untraded and 17 suspended.
Turnover decreased to 2.61 billion units worth RM1.98 billion against yesterday’s 3.71 billion units worth RM2.27 billion.
Among heavyweights, Public Bank increased three sen to RM4.52, Tenaga Nasional advanced four sen to RM14.14, Petronas Gas jumped 14 sen to RM17.72, Hong Leong Bank and Press Metal were flat at RM19.90 and RM4.96 respectively, while Maybank slipped 10 sen to RM10.04.
For active stocks, ACE Market debutant PEOPLElogy and Tanco rose 1.5 sen each to 26.5 sen and 95.5 sen, NexG increased 0.5 sen to 38 sen, Velesto was flat at 16.5 sen, and Gamuda eased five sen to RM4.52.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 26.43 points to 11,566.91, the FBMT 100 Index slid 33.85 points to 11,316.97, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 25.11 points to 11,462.88.
The FBM 70 Index advanced 27.66 points to 16,413.37, and the FBM ACE Index gained 6.6 points to 4,653.54.
Across sectors, the financial services index gave up 43.08 points to 18,315.92, the industrial products and services index edged down 0.04 of-a-point to 156.46, the plantation index slipped 45.16 points to 7,280.93, while the energy index rose 7.27 points to 714.77.
The Main Market volume eased to 1.17 billion units valued at RM1.75 billion against yesterday’s 1.46 billion units valued at RM1.92 billion.
Warrants turnover narrowed to 1.07 billion units worth RM128.67 million against 1.81 billion units worth RM1.92 billion yesterday.
The ACE Market volume rose to 363.69 million units worth RM102.09 million against 443.55 million units worth RM139.15 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 169.34 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (172.29 million), construction (103.24 million), technology (158.99 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (65.12 million), property (145.87 million), plantation (16.10 million), REITs (12.30 million), closed/fund (88,900), energy (171.87 million), healthcare (42.42 million), telecommunications and media (46.46 million), transportation and logistics (26.15 million), utilities (41.59 million), and business trusts (37,900).