Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said technology stocks took a breather after earlier gains, slipping 0.24% from yesterday, and tracking the drop in the US Nasdaq Composite Index.
According to reports, the Nasdaq correction was largely catalysed by a pivotal earnings warning from Dutch semiconductor equipment giant ASML Holding, which sent shockwaves through the global chip supply chain and highlighted a growing bifurcation within the technology market.
Thong also noted that investors took a step back after US president Donald Trump suggested that a planned meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping may not happen.
He believes such political uncertainty will increase market volatility and cautious trading.
“The 1,600 level continues to serve as a crucial support for the benchmark index, where bargain-hunting activities may surface should the index approach this mark. As such, we expect the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to remain in a range-bound trend within 1,600-1,630 points for the rest of the week,” he told Bernama.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI declined 14.14 points, or 0.87%, to 1,602.69 from Tuesday’s close of 1,616.83.
The benchmark index opened 0.73 of-a-point firmer at 1,617.56, which marked its day’s high, and hit its intraday low of 1,602.06 in late trading.
The broader market was negative with 699 decliners thumping 355 gainers, while 491 counters were unchanged, 1,148 untraded, and 31 suspended.
Turnover dropped to 3.41 billion units worth RM2.34 billion compared with 3.68 billion units worth RM2.55 billion on Tuesday.
Among heavyweight counters, CIMB lost 15 sen to RM7.20, Public Bank fell six sen to RM4.21, Hong Leong Bank slid 46 sen to RM20.50, and Tenaga Nasional dipped 16 sen to RM13.08. Maxis rose one sen to RM3.81.
On the most active list, newly listed Verdant Solar Bhd closed at 37 sen, up six sen from its issue price, Tanco and Land & General rose 0.5 sen each to 87.5 sen and 18.5 sen, respectively. Perak Transit slid 30 sen to 33.5 sen and Pharmaniaga was 1.5 sen easier at 26 sen.
Top gainers included United Plantations which jumped 76 sen to RM24.42, while Fraser & Neave rose 18 sen to RM28.32, Bursa Malaysia was 17 sen firmer at RM8.49, Sungei Bagan Rubber improved 15 sen to RM5.77, and Vitrox bagged 12 sen to RM4.47.
Among the top decliners, Nestle slipped RM1.20 to RM108.30, Petronas Dagangan decreased 30 sen to RM22.24, Hi Mobility weakened 16 sen to RM2.50, and Bintulu Port fell 15 sen to RM5.18.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 82.50 points to 12,000.20, the FBMT 100 Index slumped 77.54 points to 11,735.85, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 58.93 points to 12,098.52.
The FBM 70 Index eased 0.73 of-a-point to 17,114.20 and the FBM ACE Index eased 21.17 points to 5,290.26.
By sector, the financial services index tumbled 185.25 points to 18,068.23, the industrial products and services index fell 1.02 points to 170.36, the energy index slid 6.88 points to 785.40, while the plantation index perked up 5.75 points to 7,907.82.
The Main Market volume increased to 1.76 billion units valued at RM2.02 billion from 1.68 billion units valued at RM2.21 billion on Tuesday.
Warrants turnover declined to 1.16 billion units worth RM140.62 million compared with 1.58 billion units worth RM189.8 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume climbed to 482.47 million units valued at RM168.77 million from 425.07 million units valued at RM145.5 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 554.74 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (250.7 million), construction (113.11 million), technology (194.9 million), financial services (52.26 million), property (262.99 million), plantation (22.22 million), real estate investment trusts (11.33 million), closed-end fund (2,400), energy (103.65 million), healthcare (131.94 million), telecommunications and media (21.98 million), transportation and logistics (18.12 million), utilities (26.11 million), and business trusts (19,900).