Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia remained marginally lower at midday due to ongoing mild profit-taking in some blue-chip counters, analysts said. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased to 1,609.03, slightly down from last Friday's close of 1,609.05, despite opening higher at 1,609.75 and fluctuating between 1,606.76 and 1,613.53 during the morning session.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth was negative with decliners leading gainers 591 to 398, while 434 counters were unchanged, 1,225 untraded, and 124 suspended. Turnover stood at 2.54 billion units worth RM1.23 billion.
Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd maintains a constructive view on the FBM KLCI, taking into account the United States (US) core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index data and reports that the US is considering a zero per cent tariff on selected Malaysian exports, including auto parts, aerospace, furniture, cocoa, and palm oil. The bank anticipates a potential retest of the 1,612 to 1,640 resistance zones ahead of the fiscally-prudent Budget 2026, to be tabled on October 10.
Among heavyweights, CIMB and MRDIY both rose by 6.0 sen to RM7.31 and RM1.68 respectively. CelcomDigi added 5.0 sen to RM3.71, Petronas Dagangan increased by 34 sen to RM22.76, and Axiata gained 3.0 sen to RM2.63.
In active trade, EA Holdings, MTouche, and NexG remained flat at half-a-sen, 6.5 sen, and 9.5 sen, respectively, while Tanco declined 1.5 sen to 88.5 sen, and SNS eased half-a-sen to 66.5 sen. In addition to Petronas Dagangan, top gainers included Nestle, which rose 90 sen to RM96.94, Plenitude with a 29 sen increase to RM2.15, Country View up 24 sen to RM3.02, and Hong Leong Finance Group which gained 14 sen to RM17.06.
Conversely, top losers included MPI, which shed 30 sen to RM29, PPB Group down 26 sen to RM9.86, Petronas Chemicals falling 15 sen to RM4.40, Kelington Group trimming 12 sen to RM5.49, and Malayan Cement slipping 11 sen to RM4.11.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index decreased 13.29 points to 11,980.15, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 8.81 points to 11,716.23, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 39.81 points to 12,008.65, the FBM 70 Index decreased 50.27 points to 16,800.08, and the FBM ACE Index declined by 51.75 points to 5,148.71.
By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 1.68 points to 172.08 and the Energy Index decreased by 3.15 points to 779.37, while the Financial Services Index improved 63.04 points to 18,219.88, and the Plantation Index grew by 8.98 points to 7,771.63.