Bursa malaysia: Bursa Malaysia was lower at midday on Thursday, as market sentiment was cautious ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia's overnight policy rate decision later today. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped 4.84 points, or 0.04 percent, to 1,682.24, from Wednesday's close of 1,683.61. The index opened 2.62 points lower at 1,680.99 and fluctuated between 1,680.04 and 1,683.80 during the morning session. Market breadth was negative with losers outnumbering gainers 447 to 395, while 501 counters were unchanged, 1,353 were untraded, and 12 were suspended. Turnover stood at 1.57 billion units worth RM945.25 million.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Apex Securities Bhd noted that investors remained defensive ahead of the OPR decision and the Johor state election on July 11, given the added layer of geopolitical uncertainty on top of regional chip sentiment. The note mentioned that while a sustained oil price spike could support energy-linked counters, it also raises input costs and inflation risks, potentially complicating BNM's policy decisions, even though it is widely expected to hold the OPR at 2.75 percent.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank eased by two sen to RM10.92, Public Bank lost eight sen to RM4.85, CIMB slid three sen to RM7.61, and IHH Healthcare was six sen lower at RM8.26, while Tenaga Nasional edged up two sen to RM14.32. In the active stocks category, ACE Market debutant SRKK AI jumped 25.5 sen to 57.5 sen, Dagang Nexchange rose one sen to 44 sen, Tanco and Marine and General each inched up half a sen to 19 sen and 29 sen, respectively, while Zetrix AI slipped 1.5 sen to 73.5 sen.
Among the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries expanded 34 sen to RM46.04, MI Technovation added 14 sen to RM4.77, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia climbed 12 sen to RM5.60, and Insights Analytics notched up 11 sen to RM1.56. On the downside, Hong Leong Bank led the losers list, falling 20 sen to RM21.88, while Atlan dipped 13 sen to RM2.55, IOI Properties fell 12 sen to RM3.58, and Genting Plantations dropped nine sen to RM5.41.
On a broader scale, the FBM Emas Index reduced 18.35 points to 12,443.66 and the FBMT 100 Index declined 21.0 points to 12,272.76. However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 12.38 points to 12,277.57, the FBM 70 Index gained 30.62 points to 17,788.97, and the FBM ACE Index rose 14.05 points to 4,860.82. By sector, the Plantation Index inched up 0.50 of a point to 9,094.88 and the Energy Index advanced 0.76 points to 772.10, while the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.02 of a point to 180.78, and the Financial Services Index sank 116.80 points to 19,868.63.