Bursa: Bursa Malaysia concluded the morning session on a lower note as investors remained cautious ahead of significant economic data releases and the upcoming Chinese New Year break. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 5.38 points, or 0.34 percent, settling at 1,568.35, down from the previous close of 1,573.73.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the benchmark index opened slightly lower by 0.42 points at 1,573.31 and fluctuated between 1,566.23 and 1,573.31 during the trading session. The market experienced negative breadth, with 599 decliners overshadowing 218 gainers. Additionally, 411 counters remained unchanged, 1,120 were untraded, and 60 were suspended. The turnover was reported at 1.43 billion shares, valued at RM990.79 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that market participants are cautious as they await Wednesday's US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which will address interest rate decisions. The firm highlighted that traders are keeping a close watch on critical economic data, including US economic growth figures, unemployment claims, and the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index.
In terms of heavyweight stocks, Maybank decreased by six sen to RM10.34. Conversely, CIMB and Public Bank saw slight increases, rising two sen to RM8.03 and RM4.35, respectively. Tenaga Nasional fell six sen to RM13.70, while IHH Healthcare gained four sen to RM7.23. Active stocks MYEG and Kinergy Advancement slightly eased, reducing by half-a-sen to 95.5 sen and 33 sen, respectively. Meanwhile, Oriental Kopi decreased by 1.5 sen to 83.5 sen, YTL Power dropped 25 sen to RM3.36, and YTL Corp slipped 12 sen to RM2.00.
On a broader scale, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 51.58 points to 11,984.01. Similarly, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 45.92 points to 11,679.60, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 53.20 points to 11,861.68. The FBM ACE Index and FBM 70 Index also witnessed declines, dipping 63.42 points to 5,147.11 and 91.77 points to 17,814.58, respectively.
By sector, the Financial Services Index saw a minor drop of 3.23 points to 18,893.26. The Industrial Products and Services Index edged down by 1.30 points to 167.39, and the Plantation Index decreased by 43.39 points to 7,376.06. The Energy Index also eased, falling 7.99 points to 830.07.