Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) trimmed earlier losses on the back of late buying interest, especially in banking counters.
“Markets across the region saw mixed results following US president Donald Trump’s tariff rhetoric over the weekend, where he first threatened and later walked back on plans for increased European tariffs.
“Meanwhile, technology stocks came under selling pressure after Trump floated a 25% tariff on iPhones and other smartphone imports,” he told Bernama.
Thong said the benchmark index of the local bourse remains range-bound amid a lack of catalysts.
“A decisive move above the 1,550-1,560 level is necessary to shift sentiment positively.
“For now, we expect the FBM KLCI to trade between 1,520 and 1,550 through the week,” he added.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI dipped 1.08 points, or 0.07%, to 1,534.30 from Friday’s close of 1,535.38.
The benchmark index opened 0.95 of a point higher at 1,536.33, and fluctuated between 1,528.93 and 1,537.27 throughout the day.
In the broader market, decliners thumped gainers 595 to 338, with 478 counters unchanged, 1,019 untraded and 42 suspended.
Turnover improved to 3.12 billion units worth RM1.63 billion compared with Friday’s 2.72 billion units worth RM2.17 billion.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank rose 4 sen to RM9.92, while Public Bank and IHH Healthcare added 1 sen each to RM4.41 and RM6.91, respectively. CIMB gained 2 sen to RM6.96, while Tenaga was flat at RM14.
Among active stocks, Sapura Energy, OCR Group and Harvest Miracle were unchanged at 4 sen, 3.5 sen and 18 sen, respectively, while Tanco Holdings added 2.5 sen to RM1 and Eco Shop fell 4 sen to RM1.16.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 18.35 points to 11,455.69, the FBMT 100 Index cut 14.39 points to 11,218.71, and the FBM ACE Index was down 17.87 points to 4,598.07.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 36.23 points to 11,389.98, and the FBM 70 Index lost 46.89 points to 16,303.36.
Across the sectors, the financial services index was 68.50 points higher at 18,171.08, the industrial products and services index inched down 0.30 of a point to 153.74, the energy index eased 4.86 points to 705.91, and the plantation index added 5.06 points to 7,335.37.
The Main Market volume fell slightly to 1.23 billion units valued at RM1.34 billion against Friday’s 1.41 billion units valued at RM1.98 billion.
Warrants turnover increased to 1.60 billion units worth RM198 million from 1.11 billion units worth RM130.73 million previously.
The ACE Market volume increased to 278.81 million shares worth RM86.35 million from 204.53 million shares worth RM64.75 million last Friday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 207.96 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (214.60 million), construction (121.07 million), technology (139.47 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (49.22 million), property (143.76 million), plantation (96.20 million), REITs (10.83 million), closed/fund (4,900), energy (235.24 million), healthcare (29.06 million), telecommunications and media (24.26 million), transportation and logistics (21.15 million), utilities (33.36 million), and business trusts (35,200).