BURSA MALAYSIA CLOSES LOWER ON CAUTIOUS SENTIMENT

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday on cautious sentiment amid the weaker regional market performance, an analyst said.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 7.42 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 1,622.25 from Thursday’s close of 1,629.67.

The benchmark index opened 1.51 points weaker at 1,628.16, and moved between 1,621.74 and 1,628.21 throughout the trading session.

The broader market was negative with 593 decliners outnumbering 435 gainers, while 549 counters were unchanged, 1,052 untraded and eight suspended.

Turnover declined to 3.23 billion units worth RM2.84 billion compared with 4.74 billion units valued at RM3.62 billion on Thursday.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan told Bernama that investors are adopting a wait-and-see approach due to the weaker regional market performance despite positive local developments.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today tabled the Budget 2026 in the Dewan Rakyat at 4.05 pm. He said Budget 2026 public spending has increased to RM470 billion from RM452 billion in Budget 2025.

On the local bourse, heavyweights Maybank eased five sen to RM9.95, CIMB Group fell seven sen to RM7.50, Tenaga Nasional was six sen lower at RM13.22, IHH Healthcare slipped 11 sen to RM7.99, while Public Bank was one sen higher at RM4.30.

On the most active list, Top Glove and V.S. Industry increased half-a-sen each to 67.5 sen and 57 sen, respectively, while Tanco erased half-a-sen to 84.5 sen, Hartalega shed six sen to RM1.24, and KNM was flat at half-a-sen. 

Top gainers included VSTECS, which rose 22 sen to RM4.28, Hap Seng Consolidated advanced 16 sen to RM2.99, Hong Leong Bank and Hong Leong Financial both climbed 14 sen to RM20.64 and RM17.02, respectively, and Metrod climbed 12 sen to RM1.32.

Among the top losers, Nestle declined RM2 to RM97.56, Malaysian Pacific Industries slid 44 sen to RM30.72, Fraser & Neave was 26 sen lower at RM27.44, Malayan Cement trimmed 25 sen to RM6.83, and KESM dropped 23 sen to RM3.67.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 50.40 points to 12,131.31, the FBM 100 Index dropped 53.82 points to 11,853.88, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 47.14 points to 12,198.97.

The FBM 70 Index dipped 76.08 points to 17,177.52 while the FBM ACE Index edged up 7.63 points to 5,298.76.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index remained unchanged at 174.86, the Plantation Index narrowed 13.50 points to 7,890.95, the Financial Services Index slipped 69.41 points to 18,383.44, while the Energy Index bagged 4.04 points to 799.00.

The Main Market volume dropped to 1.78 billion units valued at RM2.54 billion versus 2.18 billion units worth RM3.13 billion on Thursday.

Warrants turnover decreased to 1.04 billion units worth RM130.19 million compared with 1.99 billion units valued at RM280.05 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume dwindled to 411.55 million units valued at RM162.59 million from 579.29 million units worth RM207.97 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 224.21 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (303.71 million), construction (103.39 million), technology (184.84 million), financial services (77.82 million), property (251 million), plantation (37.67 million), REITs (34.76 million), closed/fund (46,200), energy (187.59 million), healthcare (276.70 million), telecommunications and media (28.94 million), transportation and logistics (28.33 million), utilities (42.84 million), and business trusts (58,000).

-- BERNAMA