At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched down 0.98 of a point, or 0.06%, to 1,617.96 from yesterday’s close of 1,618.94, after opening 1.31 points lower at 1,617.63.
Market breadth was negative, with decliners outnumbering gainers 274 to 72. There were 313 counters unchanged, 2,002 untraded, and 10 suspended.
Turnover stood at 167.54 million shares valued at RM63.68 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, said Wall Street tumbled overnight as concerns over a valuation bubble in artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks intensified.
He added market sentiment was further dampened by the US labour market, which saw a significant number of layoffs in October, while the 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.09%.
“Back home, we expect buying activity to return, with the FBM KLCI likely to trend within the 1,620-1,630 range today,” he told Bernama.
Among heavyweights, Maybank dipped one sen to RM9.91, CIMB Group lost two sen to RM7.48, and Public Bank was flat at RM4.26. Tenaga Nasional gained four sen to RM13.24, while IHH Healthcare added three sen to RM8.25.
On the most active list, MMAG slipped 1.5 sen to eight sen, Pertama Digital fell 7.5 sen to 3.5 sen, and Perak Transit eased 0.5 sen to 26 sen. Pharmaniaga rose 0.5 sen to 24 sen, while TWL remained unchanged at 2.5 sen.
Other top gainers included Apex Healthcare and Hong Leong Financial, up four sen each to RM2.62 and RM17.20, respectively, with Westports three sen higher at RM5.34.
Top losers included United Plantations, down 32 sen to RM25.26, Petronas Dagangan, off 24 sen to RM22.30, Malaysian Pacific Industries, down 16 sen to RM30.04, Time Dotcom, down 11 sen to RM4.89, and Nestle, down 10 sen to RM112.70.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index fell 16.82 points to 11,778.38, while the FBM Emas Index edged down 19.79 points to 12,018.10.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 21.77 points to 12,035.43, the FBM ACE Index declined 29.48 points to 5,053.97, and the FBM Mid 70 Index lost 66.27 points to 16,876.47.
By sector, the Plantation Index fell 7.14 points to 8,050.39, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.97 of a point to 167.99, the Financial Services Index lost 12.19 points to 18,325.68, and the Energy Index declined 2.23 points to 765.63.