Kuala lumpur: Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower on Thursday, mirroring the negative trend in regional markets as investors remained cautious ahead of the United States-Malaysia trade updates. At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 6.47 points to 1,518.03 from Wednesday's close of 1,524.50. The benchmark index started the day slightly higher at 1,523.99 but fluctuated between 1,516.99 and 1,524.05 throughout the morning.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, market breadth was negative, with 413 decliners outnumbering 405 gainers, while 441 counters remained unchanged, 1,236 were untraded, and 53 were suspended. The turnover was recorded at 2.03 billion securities valued at RM964.43 million.
Regionally, the negative sentiment across Asian markets was evident. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.07 percent to 24,906.39. Singapore's Straits Times Index decreased by 0.57 percent to 4,195.34. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.49 percent to 3,238.63, whereas Japan's Nikkei 225 saw a rise of 0.92 percent to 41,029.23.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd indicated that the FBM KLCI's upward movement might be restricted as it approaches the August 1 trade deal deadline. The note also suggested that traders might focus on energy stocks due to the recent increase in Brent oil prices.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank decreased by three sen to RM9.42, Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional both fell by eight sen to RM4.21 and RM13.20, respectively. CIMB remained flat at RM6.55, while IHH Healthcare gained three sen to RM6.66.
In active trading, Pharmaniaga increased by one sen to 17 sen, EA stayed steady at half-a-sen, and Tanco and NexG rose by half-a-sen each to 84 sen and 53.5 sen, respectively. Zetrix AI climbed by two sen to 86.5 sen.
Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which gained 66 sen to RM20.06, Nestle increased by 38 sen to RM87.78, and SAM Engineering and Equipment rose 14 sen to RM4.20. Top losers were Hong Leong Bank and Petronas Chemicals, both down 14 sen to RM19.16 and RM3.93, respectively, while Kluang Rubber fell 12 sen to RM5.30.
Across the broader market, the FBM Emas Index declined by 12.18 points to 11,423.35, and the FBMT 100 Index decreased by 15.61 points to 11,183.09, while the FBM ACE Index rose by 19.40 points to 4,613.28. The FBM Emas Shariah Index increased by 18.55 points to 11,492.57, and the FBM 70 Index surged by 116.81 points to 16,606.51.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell by 1.18 points to 159.71, the Plantation Index decreased by 5.14 points to 7,402.37, the Financial Services Index dropped 107.32 points to 17,190.41, while the Energy Index rose by 4.75 points to 748.46.