Bursa Malaysia Ends Lower As Widening West Asia Conflict Weighs On Sentiment
By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani and Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia finished lower on Thursday, along with other regional markets, as the widening war in West Asia and high oil prices weighed on sentiment.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 8.82 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 1,705.52 from Wednesday’s close of 1,714.34.
The benchmark index opened 1.64 points lower at 1,712.70 and moved between 1,701.68 and 1,713.08 throughout the trading session.
Market breadth was also negative, with decliners outnumbering gainers 657 to 532. A total of 515 counters were unchanged, 1,127 untraded, and 21 suspended.
Turnover expanded to 3.98 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.66 billion units valued at RM3.49 billion on Wednesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said market sentiment took another hit as the escalating war around the Strait of Hormuz pushed the Brent crude oil price up more than 3 per cent to US$101.30 per barrel, reviving concerns about another inflationary shock. He said investors remained cautious given the heightened geopolitical tensions and soaring energy prices, which could continue to weigh on market sentiment.
“While elevated crude prices should favour selected oil and gas counters and may provide some indirect support to plantation stocks, persistently high energy costs could increase cost pressures across other sectors. Against this backdrop, we expect the FBM KLCI to remain in consolidation mode with a cautious bias as investors await greater clarity on the West Asia conflict and the US interest-rate outlook,” he told Bernama.
Thong said selective interest could remain concentrated in energy, technology and other stocks with strong earnings visibility. At the same time, the broader market is likely to stay sensitive to movements in crude oil and US Treasury yields. “In the absence of fresh domestic catalysts and with external uncertainties continuing to weigh on sentiment, we expect the FBM KLCI to remain in consolidation, trading within the 1,700-1,715 range towards the weekend,” he added.
Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank was flat at RM10.46, while Public Bank fell four sen to RM4.85, and CIMB added one sen to RM7.92. Tenaga Nasional slipped two sen to RM13.72, and IHH Healthcare dropped three sen to RM7.89.
Of the actively traded stocks, Zetrix AI lost two sen to 25 sen, Top Glove added 13.5 sen to 76.5 sen, and Ni Hsin dropped 2.5 sen to 27.5 sen. Careplus gained 1.5 sen to 9.0 sen, and Luster Industries rose half a sen to 3.5 sen.
The top gainers were led by Petronas Dagangan, which jumped 36 sen to RM20.66, while United Plantations surged 30 sen to RM33.30. Petronas Chemicals surged 27 sen to RM4.82, Kerjaya Prospek bagged 24 sen to RM3.52, and Hengyuan Refining rallied 23 sen to RM3.39.
Among the top losers, Nestle dropped RM1 to RM92, Telekom lost 18 sen to RM8, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed 16 sen to RM22.74. Sarawak Oil Palms cut 14 sen to RM6.04 and MBM Resources slid 13 sen to RM4.88.
On the index board, the FBM70 Index added 36.04 points to 17,900.60, and the FBM ACE Index rose 14.78 points to 5,312.44. The FBM Emas Index weakened 41.86 points to 12,639.15, the FBMT Index eased 41.73 points to 12,438.23, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 4.20 points to 12,502.70.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 143.44 points to 19,904.11, the Plantation Index trimmed 0.85 of a point to 9,449.11, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.82 of a point to 188.88, but the Energy Index inched up 0.91 of a point to 819.44.
The Main Market volume increased to 2.45 billion units valued at RM2.81 billion compared with 2.34 billion units worth RM3.19 billion on Wednesday.
Warrant turnover expanded to 978.99 million units worth RM137.68 million versus 771.97 million units valued at RM115.92 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume recovered to 557.55 million units valued at RM188.69 million from 547.35 million units worth RM191.50 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 394.75 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (336.03 million), construction (103.48 million), technology (666.58 million), financial services (67.76 million), property (120.04 million), plantation (51.97 million), real estate investment trusts (19.90 million), closed-end fund (14,500), energy (110.19 million), healthcare (444.53 million), telecommunications and media (29.66 million), transportation and logistics (40.26 million), utilities (64.81 million), and business trusts (31,000).
-- BERNAMA