Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia's main index concluded the day lower as foreign fund selling continued, despite positive performances in most regional markets. At the close of trading, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped by 8.84 points or 0.55 percent, settling at 1,582.76, down from last Friday's closing figure of 1,591.60. The index began the day with a slight gain, opening 0.88 of a point higher at 1,592.48, reaching its intraday high, before sliding to a low of 1,580.94 in the mid-afternoon session.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the broader market saw a larger number of losers compared to gainers, with 715 counters declining against 313 that advanced, while 465 remained unchanged, 815 were untraded, and 10 were suspended. The overall market turnover decreased to 2.98 billion units worth RM1.95 billion, compared to 3.27 billion units worth RM2.40 billion last Friday.
UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd's head of investment research, Mohd Sedek Jantan, noted that the FBM KLCI fell for the third consecutive day, primarily driven by losses in the telecommunications and utilities sectors. He highlighted that, despite the weaker local market, Asian equities rose on Monday, propelled by robust performances in Hong Kong's technology sector, especially following increased interest after DeepSeek. The upcoming earnings reports from Alibaba and Baidu this week are anticipated to provide insights into the potential for artificial intelligence-driven revenue growth.
Mohd Sedek also mentioned that strong economic growth data from Japan contrasted with weak US retail sales, which boosted the yen against the dollar. With the US market closed for President's Day, he noted that while the immediate threat of reciprocal US tariffs has been postponed until April, there are still concerns about potential levies based on value-added taxes in other countries.
Regionally, major indices showed mixed results. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.06 percent to 39,174.25, Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.71 percent to 3,904.85, South Korea's Kospi increased by 0.75 percent to 2,610.42, and China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.27 percent to 3,355.83. However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended 0.02 percent lower at 22,616.23, after giving up earlier gains.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd's vice president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, expressed concerns about the local benchmark index hovering near the 1,580 support level, suggesting a risk of further weakness. He advised investors to reduce trading exposure and keep funds ready for clearer market signals, anticipating the FBM KLCI to fluctuate within the 1,570-1,600 range this week.
Among heavyweight counters, Maybank remained flat at RM10.56, CIMB fell by five sen to RM8.30, while Public Bank and IHH Healthcare each decreased by two sen to RM4.47 and RM7.25, respectively. Meanwhile, Tenaga Nasional added two sen to RM13.92.
On the active counters, ACE Market debutant Richtech Digital led with a gain of seven sen to 32 sen, with 223.13 million shares traded. Dialog and TWL Holdings experienced slight declines, while Ingenieur Gudang rose half-a-sen and Harvest Miracle remained flat.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell by 61.49 points to 12,045.12, the FBMT 100 Index decreased by 61.99 points to 11,751.96, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped by 73.68 points to 11,773.83. Other indices also showed declines, with the FBM 70 Index down 79.56 points to 17,791.67 and the FBM ACE Index falling 5.83 points to 5,128.95.
Sectoral indices showed varied performance, with the Financial Services Index falling by 53.16 points to 19,289.48, the Industrial Products and Services Index shedding 0.07 of a point to 163.92, the Plantation Index declining by 21.98 points to 7,432.94, and the Energy Index easing by 0.26 of a point to 798.29.
The Main Market volume decreased to 1.34 billion units valued at RM1.64 billion, down from 1.50 billion units worth RM2.10 billion previously. Warrants turnover also reduced, while the ACE Market volume expanded.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 232.58 million shares traded on the Main Market, with other sectors such as industrial products and services, construction, technology, and financial services also seeing significant trading activity.