Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday, reversing gains from the previous day, amid regional market weaknesses influenced by Wall Street's downturn. The decline in global equities was spurred by renewed concerns over stretched technology valuations and uncertainties surrounding the US Federal Reserve's policy outlook.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 6.60 points, or 0.40 percent, to settle at 1,625.67 compared to the previous close of 1,632.27. The index experienced fluctuations throughout the trading session, opening 1.46 points lower at 1,630.81 and trading between 1,623.81 and 1,630.96.

Market breadth was negative, with 827 decliners surpassing 323 advancers, while 506 counters remained unchanged, 1,082 were untraded, and 10 were suspended. The turnover fell to 3.64 billion units valued at RM2.68 billion, down from 3.95 billion units worth RM2.77 billion on Thursday.

Mohd Sedek Jantan, director of investment strategy and country economist at IPPFA Sdn Bhd, remarked that despite global volatility, Malaysia's underlying sentiment remains firm, bolstered by sustained foreign inflows and improving domestic macroeconomic indicators. He noted that from Monday to Thursday, foreign investors were net buyers of Malaysian equities, signaling confidence in the market.

Across Asia, Mohd Sedek pointed out that external pressures were evident, with most major regional indices closing lower, mirroring Wall Street's sharp sell-off. The downturn was attributed to valuation concerns affecting leading artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor stocks.

Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, stated that the FBM KLCI's decline was due to continued profit-taking amid the regional sell-off. Among the heavyweights, Maybank decreased by two sen to RM9.93, Public Bank fell one sen to RM4.29, CIMB eased by four sen to RM7.53, and Tenaga Nasional dropped eight sen to RM13.42. In contrast, IHH Healthcare rose two sen to RM8.27.

On the most active list, Tanco increased by one sen to 95.5 sen, Genting Malaysia added two sen to RM2.30, while Zetrix AI and MMAG both decreased by half-a-sen to 84.5 sen and 7.5 sen respectively. Pharmaniaga and Perak Transit remained steady at 26 sen and 26.5 sen, respectively.

Leading the gainers, Dutch Lady advanced 90 sen to RM29.50, Nestle climbed 50 sen to RM113.50, United Plantations rose 30 sen to RM26.30, Manulife gained 20 sen to RM2.33, and Hong Leong Financial increased 16 sen to RM17.40.

In contrast, among the top losers, Master-Pack fell 35 sen to RM2.04, Petronas Dagangan declined 34 sen to RM22.10, PPB and Kotra both decreased 20 sen to RM11.60 and RM4.20, while Ajinomoto was 18 sen lower at RM13.82.

On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 49.28 points to 11,823.06, the FBM Emas Index fell 54.67 points to 12,054.85, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 71.79 points to 12,057.17. The FBM ACE Index tumbled 88.84 points to 4,983.76, and the FBM Mid 70 Index fell 76.04 points to 16,890.87.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index decreased by 15.77 points to 8,140.08, the Financial Services Index fell 34.59 points to 18,431.34, the Industrial Products and Services Index dropped 1.52 points to 166.99, and the Energy Index declined 1.20 points to 755.61.

The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.38 billion units valued at RM2.23 billion from 1.55 billion units valued at RM2.29 billion on Thursday. Warrants turnover decreased to 1.90 billion units worth RM305.93 million, compared to 2.03 billion units worth RM342.36 million previously.

The ACE Market volume decreased to 348.77 million units valued at RM143.45 million from 360.12 million units valued at RM139.57 million the day before. Consumer products and services counters accounted for 279.94 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services (251.24 million), construction (91.14 million), technology (225.55 million), and other sectors.