Bursa ends lower on profit-taking

The Malaysian stock market, Bursa Malaysia, ended slightly down on Friday due to investors selling off certain financial and industrial stocks. This follows the overall negative sentiment in other stock markets within the region.

By 5pm, the FBM KLCI had declined by 1.89 points, reaching 1,446.09, compared to its closing point of 1,447.98 on Thursday.

The barometer indicator started off 1.25 points higher at 1,449.23, reaching its highest point of the day, and dropped to a low of 1,442.26 during the afternoon.

The overall market saw more stocks decrease in value compared to those that increased, with a ratio of 552 decliners to 380 gainers. Additionally, there were 435 counters that remained unchanged, 981 stocks that were not traded, and 29 others that were temporarily suspended.

The total number of goods sold decreased to 3.19 billion units valued at RM2.12 billion, compared to 4.34 billion units valued at RM2.56 billion on the previous day.

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd emerged as the primary culprits behind the downfall of the local benchmark index, causing a collective deduction of 2.93 points.

The financial institution declined by 9 sen to RM5.55 per share. On the other hand, Press Metal fell by 10 sen to RM4.75.

Thong Pak Leng, the vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, commented that the KLCI experienced a minor decline, mirroring the sell-off in the overall region.

In terms of specific areas, important indicators showed a decline, which was influenced by the unfavorable signal from the stock market in the United States during the previous night. This caused investors to be concerned about the possibility of additional increases in interest rates in the US, and they also feared the potential occurrence of a devastating situation in the property market of China.

"In terms of the situation within the country, there may be a sense of hesitation due to growing market risks and instability in the international markets," he shared with Bernama on Friday.

In addition to other prominent companies, Maybank's stock increased by three sen to RM9.00, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd saw a one sen rise to RM6.80, IHH Healthcare Bhd showed an improvement of five sen to RM6.00, Public Bank Bhd experienced a decline of three sen to RM4.13, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd remained steady at RM9.95.

In the list of stocks, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd decreased by 0.5 sen to six sen and Aimflex Bhd also decreased by 0.5 sen to 21.5 sen. UEM Sunrise Bhd dropped by one sen to 62 sen, while Parkson Holdings Bhd increased by 7.5 sen to 29.5 sen. Lastly, KNM Group Bhd rose by two sen to 9.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index saw a decrease of 18.01 points, bringing it to a total of 10,661.56. Similarly, the FBMT 100 Index experienced a dip of 17.13 points, now standing at 10,347.53. The FBM Emas Shariah Index recorded a loss of 3.91 points, resulting in a new value of 10,873.51. Additionally, the FBM 70 Index saw a decline of 38.73 points, bringing it to a total of 14,099.52. Lastly, the FBM ACE Index experienced a decrease of 49.40 points, now standing at 5,264.14.

In terms of sectors, the Financial Services Index experienced a decrease of 39.36 points, bringing it to 16,254.10. The Industrial Products and Services Index slightly decreased by 0.40 points, reaching 167.27. On the other hand, the Plantation Index showed an increase of 74.94 points, bringing it to 6,985.80. Similarly, the Energy Index saw a small increase of 0.39 points, reaching 815.26.

On Thursday, the trading volume in the Main Market decreased to 2.30 billion units, worth RM1.88 billion, compared to 3.18 billion units, worth RM2.27 billion.

The number of warrants traded decreased to 359.69 million, valued at RM48.86 million, compared to the previous day's trading of 398.44 million warrants worth RM60.76 million.

The trading activity on the ACE Market significantly declined, with only 524.22 million shares being exchanged, amounting to RM182.18 million. This is in stark contrast to the previous period, where 753.73 million shares were traded, valued at RM227.91 million.

The trading volume of consumer products and services counters on the Main Market was 475.66 million shares. Industrial products and services had a trading volume of 408.89 million shares, construction had 187.20 million shares, technology had 336.03 million shares, special purpose acquisition companies had no trading volume, financial services had 89.67 million shares, property had 394.36 million shares, plantation had 56.34 million shares, real estate investment trusts had 14.28 million shares, closed/funds had 204,000 shares, energy had 186.66 million shares, healthcare had 33.02 million shares, telecommunications and media had 21.99 million shares, transportation and logistics had 43.55 million shares, and utilities had 53.51 million shares.