Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Tuesday as investors engaged in profit-taking following recent gains, according to an analyst. At the end of the trading day, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped by 8.06 points, or 0.49 percent, settling at 1,630.03 compared to Monday's close of 1,638.09.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the benchmark index began the day 2.03 points lower at 1,636.06, fluctuating between 1,624.35 and 1,636.50 throughout the session. The market experienced negative breadth, with 717 decliners outnumbering 368 gainers, while 463 counters remained unchanged, 1,028 were untraded, and seven were suspended. Turnover decreased to 3.48 billion units worth RM2.99 billion, down from 3.69 billion units valued at RM2.61 billion on Friday.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd's director of investment strategy and country economist, Mohd Sedek Jantan, remarked that today's pullback should be perceived as a healthy consolidation rather than an indication of structural weakness. He noted that the decline was driven by domestic profit-taking instead of a deterioration in market fundamentals, predicting that the FBM KLCI would likely maintain above the 1,609 support level this week.
Among heavyweight counters, IHH Healthcare fell by 16 sen to RM8.19, Maybank decreased by seven sen to RM9.95, and Maxis saw a reduction of six sen to RM3.64. Tenaga Nasional declined by eight sen to RM13.28, while Gamuda lost seven sen to RM5.40. In active trading, Borneo Oil and Pharmaniga remained unchanged at half a sen and 28.5 sen, respectively. ACE Market debutant Cheeding surged by 37.5 sen to 73.5 sen, while NexG and Tanco saw declines of 1.5 sen to 7.5 sen and 2.5 sen to 86 sen, respectively.
In terms of top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries rose by 48 sen to RM31.48, Nestle increased by 36 sen to RM97.66, and Fraser and Neave climbed by 28 sen to RM28.28. Unisem improved by 21 sen to RM3.56, with PPB adding 16 sen to RM10.68. Top losers included Malayan Cement, which fell by 21 sen to RM6.73, Kluang Rubber down by 20 sen to RM5.50, and LPI decreasing by 18 sen to RM14.40. Batu Kawan dropped by 16 sen to RM18.82, while KESM Industries declined by 15 sen to RM3.77.
The index board showed the FBM Emas Index falling by 53.60 points to 12,127.32, the FBMT 100 Index dropping by 52.62 points to 11,859.85, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreasing by 64.37 points to 12,133.34. The FBM 70 Index saw a reduction of 48.82 points to 16,965.60, while the FBM ACE Index declined by 22.06 points to 5,311.41.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up by 0.07 of a point to 173.59, while the Energy Index narrowed by 5.56 points to 780.57. The Plantation Index shed 26.18 points to 7,793.85, and the Financial Services Index was lower by 63.96 points at 18,571.95.
The Main Market volume rose to 2.37 billion units valued at RM2.63 billion, in contrast to 1.99 billion units worth RM2.27 billion on Monday. Warrant turnover expanded to 410.23 million units worth RM39.22 million, compared to 1.12 billion units valued at RM154.52 million the previous day. The ACE Market volume increased to 703.19 million shares, valued at RM316.30 million, up from 573.35 million shares worth RM182.53 million previously.
In the Main Market, consumer products and services counters accounted for 357 million shares traded, followed by industrial products and services at 706.90 million, construction at 160.11 million, technology at 273.56 million, and financial services at 63.26 million. Other sectors such as property, plantation, REITs, energy, healthcare, telecommunications and media, transportation and logistics, utilities, and business trusts also saw varied trading volumes.