Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower as investors opted to lock in profits in the utilities, industrial, and consumer products sectors following gains from the previous day. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 6.18 points, or 0.38 percent, to 1,612.20 from Monday’s close of 1,618.38, with the benchmark index initially opening 1.85 points higher at 1,620.23 and fluctuating between 1,610.18 and 1,620.23 throughout the session.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth showed a negative sentiment with 700 losers surpassing 210 gainers, while 449 counters remained unchanged, with 1,365 untraded and 36 suspended. The turnover reached 2.47 billion units valued at RM1.38 billion.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that market sentiment is anticipated to stay positive on the local bourse, supported by the visit of United States President Donald Trump to Malaysia on Sunday. The exemption of palm oil, rubber, and cocoa from the 19 percent US tariffs is expected to stimulate and maintain buying interest in the plantation and commodities sectors.
In the heavyweight category, Maybank saw a decline of one sen to RM9.90, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare both fell by two sen to RM4.20 and RM8.33, respectively. CIMB Group experienced a drop of seven sen to RM7.38, and Tenaga Nasional decreased by 10 sen to RM13.26.
Among the most active stocks, Perak Transit increased by 3.5 sen to 37 sen, Pharmaniaga decreased by one sen to 24.5 sen, and Zetrix eased by 1.5 sen to 83.5 sen. Borneo Oil and Powertechnic Group remained unchanged at half-a-sen and 35 sen, respectively.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific, which surged 80 sen to RM31.34, while Dutch Lady added 10 sen to RM26.20. SAM Engineering, Hi Mobility, and Bintulu Port each saw an increase of nine sen to RM4.71, RM2.47, and RM5.27, respectively.
Conversely, top losers included Nestle, which dropped RM1.30 to RM105.30, UMS Integration, which eased 75 sen to RM5.05, United Plantations, which gave up 50 sen to RM24.00, Time dotCom, which slid 11 sen to RM4.70, and Kluang Rubber, which weakened 10 sen to RM5.10.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index eased 55.15 points to 12,053.85, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 50.85 points to 11,793.78, the FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 62.44 points to 12,137.44, the FBM 70 Index declined 98.44 points to 17,148.12, and the FBM ACE Index fell 43.26 points to 5,193.49.
By sector, the Financial Services Index lost 58.88 points to 18,191.04, the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased 1.46 points to 170.79, the Energy Index weakened 9.27 points to 774.12, and the Plantation Index slipped 24.02 points to 7,992.40.