Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session on a lower note, impacted by persistent selling amid mixed performances from regional peers and a selloff on Wall Street. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased by 10.56 points or 0.66 percent to 1,580.47, down from Friday's close of 1,591.03. The benchmark index opened 4.64 points lower at 1,586.39.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the broader market saw decliners outnumbering gainers 633 to 181, with 407 counters remaining unchanged, 1,132 untraded, and 10 suspended. The turnover stood at 1.26 billion shares, valued at RM738.99 billion. Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that Wall Street's negative ending was due to the services purchasing managers' index (PMI) data, which was worse than anticipated.
Traders are expected to monitor the United States' consumer confidence, preliminary gross domestic product quarter-on-quarter, unemployment claims, and monthly core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index throughout the week. Malacca Securities highlighted potential trading opportunities in industrial products and services, as well as glove counters. Despite the recent selloff, the outlook remains optimistic, supported by healthy restocking activities and additional tariffs on Chinese glove manufacturers, which could shift market dynamics toward Malaysian glove manufacturers.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB each added two sen to RM10.52 and RM8.38, respectively. Public Bank decreased by two sen to RM4.48, Tenaga Nasional fell by 22 sen to RM13.76, while IHH Healthcare remained unchanged at RM7.26. In terms of active stocks, Ingenieur Gudang and Harvest Miracle Capital were steady at five sen and 13 sen, respectively, while RGB International and MY E.G. Services dropped two sen to 42.5 sen and RM1.02, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 102.47 points to 11,889.19, the FBMT 100 Index declined 96.70 points to 11,628.53, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased by 144.27 points to 11,572.64. Additionally, the FBM 70 Index went down by 218.27 points to 17,186.59, and the FBM ACE Index was reduced by 62.40 points to 4,858.58. By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index dropped 4.15 points to 160.90, the Energy Index fell 12.60 points to 773.16, and the Financial Services Index decreased by 21.04 points to 19,296.99, while the Plantation Index rose by 36.26 points to 7,494.58.