BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS LOWER AS WEST ASIA DE-ESCALATION HOPES FADE

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia gave up early gains to end lower today as risk appetite waned as fading hopes of de-escalation in the West Asia conflict weighed on sentiment.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 11.95 points or 0.69 per cent to 1,708.76 from last Thursday’s close of 1,720.71.

The market bellwether opened 11.38 points higher at 1,732.09, and fluctuated between 1,704.06 and 1,732.09 throughout the day.

Market breadth was negative with losers trouncing gainers 968 to 284. A total of 399 counters were unchanged, 1,114 untraded and 28 suspended.

Turnover decreased to 3.35 billion units worth RM4.03 billion from last Thursday’s 3.36 billion units worth RM4.96 billion.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI opened higher in early trade, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street after US President Donald Trump signalled potential progress in West Asia.

“However, initial optimism proved short-lived, as Tehran dismissed the prospect of talks as ‘fake news’ and denied that any negotiations had taken place, while reports pointed to potential involvement from regional and Gulf actors.

“This reinforced market uncertainty and prompted investors to adopt a more risk-off stance, leading the index to reverse earlier gains and trade lower,” he told Bernama. 

In addition, he said that although US equities staged a brief rebound overnight following Trump’s announcement to delay planned military strikes on Iran, citing efforts to stabilise oil prices, the rally quickly faded.

“Brent crude remained elevated above US$100 per barrel, further weighing on sentiment. Headline-driven trading continued to dominate market direction, with S&P 500 futures turning lower after the close, signalling that volatility is likely to persist as Asian markets reopen,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said moving forward, market direction will remain sensitive to crude oil price movements and geopolitical developments.

“Investors are likely to rotate into commodity-linked and defensive sectors such as plantations and energy, while trimming exposure to higher-risk growth stocks.

“Given the higher market volatility, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend with the 1,690-1,730 range for the week,” he added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank fell 26 sen to RM11.34, Public Bank slid 1.0 sen to RM4.86, CIMB gave up 4.0 sen to RM7.83, Tenaga Nasional slipped 2.0 sen to RM14.28, and IHH Healthcare lost 5.0 sen to RM8.98.

On the most active list, Sunway Healthcare rose 10.0 sen to RM2.00, Borneo Oil slipped half-a-sen to half-a-sen, Zetrix AI shed 5.0 sen to 73.5 sen, Capital A lost 1.5 sen to 40.5 sen, and AirAsia X eased 6.0 sen to RM1.17.

Top gainers included Petronas Gas, which put on RM1.06 to RM17.86, Fraser & Neave increased 42 sen to RM29.72, Petronas Chemicals gained 32 sen to RM5.80, Dutch Lady Milk Industries added 28 sen to RM31.98, and Master-Pack climbed 10 sen to RM1.75. 

As for top losers, Nestle slid RM1.96 to RM98.44, United Plantations fell RM1.00 to RM33.82, Hong Leong Financial dipped 70 sen to RM19.30, Allianz Malaysia sank 64 sen to RM20.68, and Malaysian Pacific Industries declined 52 sen to RM29.08.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index slipped 105.12 points to 12,283.67, the FBM Emas Index fell 116.99 points to 12,421.81, the FBM 70 Index declined 230.72 points to 16,912.26, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 95.68 points to 12,171.62, and the FBM ACE Index dipped 84.36 points to 4,319.93.

By sector, the Financial Services Index tumbled 298.18 points to 20,380.94, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 2.51 points to 180.65, the Energy Index shaved off 5.81 points to 788.0, and the Plantation Index slid 50.43 points to 8,638.47.

The Main Market volume improved to 2.22 billion units valued at RM3.82 billion from 2.09 billion units valued at RM4.74 billion last Thursday.

Warrants turnover dwindled to 872.86 million units worth RM120.07 million from 1.02 billion units worth RM129.59 million previously. 

The ACE Market volume expanded to 260.98 million units valued at RM82.34 million from 245.39 million units valued at RM91.69 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 320.33 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (517.79 million), construction (155.27 million), technology (210.43 million), financial services (125.92 million), property (181.98 million), plantation (34.88 million), real estate investment trusts (140.45 million), closed-end fund (228,200), energy (194.31 million), healthcare (219.19 million), telecommunications and media (40.59 million), transportation and logistics (39.70 million), utilities (34.93 million), and business trusts (231,300).

-- BERNAMA