Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said strong selling in Sime Darby Bhd, following its lower-than-expected quarterly earnings, also dragged the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) into negative territory by the end of the day.
Sime Darby reported a significantly lower net profit of RM193 million in the third quarter ended March 31, 2025 (Q3 2025) compared with RM340 million in Q3 2024, mainly due to lower profit from all core divisions.
Its revenue also slipped to RM16.31 billion from RM18.84 billion year-on-year.
Thong said equity markets in the region were mostly weaker ahead of Nvidia’s earnings release later today, which is expected to offer key insights into the technology sector’s trajectory.
“The domestic benchmark index came under pressure amid global economic uncertainties, concerns surrounding US policy direction, and selling activity in select sectors.
“In the near-term, the market is expected to stay in a consolidation phase as investors remain focused on evolving local and global developments that may influence sentiment,” he told Bernama.
“As such, Rakuten Trade is maintaining its weekly FBM KLCI target at between 1,520 and 1,550, representing the support and resistance levels, respectively,” he added.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI slid 2.68 points to 1,523.48 from yesterday’s close of 1,526.16.
The benchmark index opened 3.98 points higher at 1,530.14, and subsequently hit the day’s high of 1,532.90 in early trade before losing its steady momentum to close at its intraday low.
In the broader market, decliners beat gainers 474 to 435, with 499 counters unchanged, 988 untraded and 50 suspended.
Turnover declined to 2.50 billion units worth RM2.03 billion compared with yesterday’s 2.65 billion units worth RM1.85 billion.
Among heavyweights, Maybank erased 1 sen to RM9.84, Public Bank dropped 5 sen to RM4.33, CIMB fell 3 sen to RM6.87, Sime Darby shed 9 sen to RM1.78, while Tenaga Nasional jumped 10 sen to RM14.10 and IHH Healthcare gained 1 sen to RM6.91.
As for active stocks, Velesto added 1 sen to 17.5 sen, Tanco increased 2 sen to RM1.03, Oasis Home edged up 0.5 sen to 28.5 sen, while Permaju eased 0.5 sen to 1.5 sen, and NationGate dipped 1 sen to RM1.58.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index inched up 0.11 of-a-point to 11,397.17, the FBMT 100 Index edged up 0.99 of-a-point to 11,161.36, but the FBM ACE Index slid 24.26 points to 4,549.34.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 21.39 points to 11,375.51 and the FBM 70 Index rose 83.34 points to 16,306.65.
Across the sectors, the financial services index tumbled 90.77 points to 17,957.90, the industrial products and services index slipped 0.74 of-a-point to 152.70, the energy index gained 7.85 points to 706.51, while the plantation index plunged 84.09 points to 7,292.55.
The Main Market volume improved to 1.34 billion units valued at RM1.80 billion against yesterday’s 1.19 billion units valued at RM1.60 billion.
Warrants turnover dwindled to 815.91 million units worth RM113.60 million from 1.10 billion units worth RM134.59 million previously.
The ACE Market volume decreased to 346.43 million shares worth RM119.44 million from 351.78 million shares worth RM109.53 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 294.74 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (197.51 million), construction (102.79 million), technology (150.98 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (68.10 million), property (154.19 million), plantation (17.34 million), REITs (19.93 million), closed/fund (3,000), energy (196.53 million), healthcare (37.25 million), telecommunications and media (46.94 million), transportation and logistics (19.95 million), utilities (36.99 million), and business trusts (7,200).