Accra:Bursa Malaysia Bursa Malaysia ended Friday's trading session lower as investors shifted their focus from index heavyweights to smaller-cap technology and telecommunications stocks, as well as real estate investment trusts (REITs).
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 15.94 points, or 0.98 percent, closing at 1,607.76, down from Thursday's close of 1,623.70. The index had opened slightly higher at 1,624.83 and fluctuated between 1,602.98 and 1,626.34 throughout the day.
Overall, the market saw more gainers than decliners, with 597 stocks rising and 470 falling, while 518 remained unchanged, 1,258 were untraded, and 33 were suspended. The day's turnover increased to 3.13 billion units valued at RM3.27 billion, up from 3.06 billion units worth RM3.03 billion on the previous day.
Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, expressed cautious optimism for the market, encouraged by Malaysia's strong economic performance, with a 5.3 percent year-on-year GDP growth estimate for the third quarter of 2026. He noted that recent market corrections have created attractive opportunities in blue-chip stocks with sustainable dividends and robust earnings prospects.
Among the major stocks, Maybank fell by nine sen to RM9.99, while Public Bank increased by nine sen to RM4.83. CIMB saw a decrease of 28 sen to RM7.20. Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare both experienced a two sen increase, reaching RM13.00 and RM8.00, respectively.
In terms of active trading, Zetrix AI dropped by one sen to 5.5 sen. EGH International, a new addition to the ACE Market, opened at 14.5 sen, below its initial public offering price of 16 sen per share, and closed 2.5 sen lower at 13.5 sen. Top Glove remained steady at 90 sen, V.S Industry gained one sen to 34 sen, and Ni Hsin fell to half a sen to 42 sen.
Among the top gainers, MISC Bhd rose by 46 sen to RM8.76, Petronas Dagangan climbed 44 sen to RM19.64, Vitrox added 28 sen to RM10.60, KESM Industries advanced 25 sen to RM4.76, and Pekat Group increased 23 sen to RM2.76.
Conversely, Nestle was among the top losers, falling RM1.18 to RM89.32. Kuala Lumpur Kepong decreased by RM1.10 to RM20.00, while Press Metal Aluminium lost 67 sen to RM6.50. Dutch Lady Milk Industries declined 36 sen to RM28.92, and Petronas Gas dropped 28 sen to RM17.32.
On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index declined by 13.79 points to 17,225.94, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell by 82.67 points to 11,919.87, and the FBM Emas Index slid by 81.25 points to 11,992.27. The FBM Top 100 Index lost 89.09 points to 11,786.77, while the FBM ACE Index rose 120.15 points to 5,431.05.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index dropped 4.13 points to 172.79, the Energy Index decreased by 1.87 points to 821.00, the Plantation Index tumbled 210.99 points to 8,632.88, and the Financial Services Index fell 74.82 points to 18,751.82.
The Main Market saw an improvement in volume to 1.80 billion units worth RM2.97 billion, compared to 1.75 billion units worth RM2.70 billion on Thursday. Warrants turnover slightly decreased to 837.33 million units valued at RM112.66 million, from 846.48 million units worth RM117.72 million. The ACE Market's volume expanded to 493.41 million units valued at RM184.73 million, up from 454.44 million units valued at RM206.24 million.
Trading activity on the Main Market included 270.83 million shares in consumer products and services, 353.67 million in industrial products and services, and 464.09 million in technology. The financial services sector accounted for 139.43 million shares, while the property sector saw 94.05 million shares traded.