Bursa Malaysia Ends Morning Session Lower Amid Heavyweight Sell-off
KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower today, as continued selling activities in heavyweight stocks, particularly financial counters, weighed on market sentiment.
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 3.35 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 1,680.18, from Monday’s close of 1,683.53.
The index opened 0.11 of a point lower at 1,683.42 and traded between 1,684.19 and 1,676.94 during the morning trading session.
Market breadth was negative with losers outnumbering gainers 480 to 321, while 557 counters were unchanged, 1,293 untraded, and 12 suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.57 billion shares worth RM848.91 million.
In a note today, Apex Securities Bhd said global risk appetite remains constructive, anchored by the United States (US) Federal Reserve’s dovish repricing after last week’s weak US payrolls print, with Wall Street pushing to fresh records.
“However, the picture in Asia is more mixed and stock-specific: with South Korea’s KOSPI and Japan’s Nikkei both paused for breath after their recent violent swings, with markets now focused on a heavy catalyst calendar.
“For the FBM KLCI, this suggests the path of least resistance remains modestly higher near-term, but gains are likely to stay narrow and heavyweight-led (banks, plantation) rather than broad-based, until regional tech/semiconductor sentiment fully stabilises,” it said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose two sen to RM10.96, Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.30, while Public Bank and CIMB each lost one sen to RM4.90 and RM7.60, respectively, and IHH Healthcare fell three sen to RM8.30.
On the most active list, ACE debutant RNG Tech, Zetrix AI and Tanco were all unchanged at 13 sen, 76 sen and 18.5 sen, respectively. Asdion was 1.5 sen lower at half a sen, while Efficient E-Solutions added 1.5 sen to 11.5 sen.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which added 66 sen to RM46.48; Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong Bank each bagged 18 sen to RM33.68 and RM22.02, respectively, while Unisem grew 13 sen to RM4.64, and Kee Ming increased 11 sen to RM1.94.
Of the top losers, Dutch Lady Milk fell 34 sen to RM32.06, PJBumi and SHL Consolidated each decreased 12 sen to RM3.69 and RM2.23, respectively, while Mulpha International shed 10 sen to RM2.90, and ITMax System reduced nine sen to RM4.79.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index narrowed 23.67 points to 12,449.05, the FBMT 100 Index fell 23.26 points to 12,278.38, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 29.43 points to 12,258.19 and the FBM ACE Index inched down 20.87 points to 4,872.0, while the FBM 70 Index erased 28.38 points to 17,777.26.
By sector, the Financial Services Index gained 6.29 points to 19,940.71, and the Energy Index advanced 1.46 points to 760.95. Meanwhile, the Plantation Index retreated 17.48 points to 8,990.31, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.55 points to 180.81.
-- BERNAMA