Bursa extends losses amid rising geopolitical tensions
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower today, extending its losses for a third consecutive day, as investor sentiment turned increasingly risk-averse amid escalating geopolitical tensions.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Sedek Jantan said renewed military strikes involving the US and Iran raise concerns over a broader escalation and prolonged disruptions to global energy supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
He said that following the attack, Brent crude oil climbed more than 2% to around US$97 per barrel for August delivery as fears of supply disruption resurfaced.
“Within the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI), banking heavyweights led the market decline following the latest round of earnings releases, with investors adopting a more cautious stance amid concerns over margin compression, softer loan growth momentum, and rising external uncertainties.
“The weakness in financial services counters weighed significantly on the broader index, given the sector’s large index representation,” he told Bernama.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI slipped 14.09 points, or 0.83%, to 1,684.93 from Tuesday’s close of 1,699.02.
The benchmark index opened 7.81 points higher at 1,706.83 and moved between 1,683.08 and 1,707.91 throughout the session.
Market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 678 to 456, while 550 counters were unchanged, 996 untraded, and 88 suspended.
Turnover rose to 3.53 billion units valued at RM4.19 billion compared with 3.24 billion units valued at RM3.72 billion on Tuesday.
Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank fell 44 sen to RM10.50, Public Bank slipped 3 sen to RM4.77, CIMB Bank was 19 sen lower at RM7.49, while Tenaga Nasional edged up 8 sen to RM14.24 and IHH Healthcare gained 1 sen to RM8.99.
As for the active stocks, Zetrix AI remained unchanged at 81.5 sen, OGX advanced 7 sen to 42 sen, Inari Amertron garnered 13 sen to RM2.35, SFP Tech perked up 3.5 sen to 26 sen, while YTL Corp shed 3 sen to RM2.04.
Top gainers included Allianz Malaysia, which rose 50 sen to RM21.92, KESM Industries increased 47 sen to RM4.96, Ajinomoto firmed 32 sen to RM13.28, United Plantations added 30 sen to RM30.50, and Dutch Lady Milk climbed 24 sen to RM32.94.
Of the top losers, Hong Leong Bank tumbled 72 sen to RM21.18, Batu Kawan dropped 44 sen to RM19.96, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 38 sen to RM19.96, and Petronas Dagangan shaved off 30 sen to RM17.34.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 74.60 points to 12,541.28, the FBM Top 100 Index decreased 77.11 points to 12,380.48, the FBM Mid 70 Index eased 0.68 of a point to 18,213.69, while the FBM ACE Index edged up 9.65 points to 4,721.14, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 21.07 points to 12,550.91.
By sector, the industrial products and services index inched up 0.30 of a point to 198.33, while the financial services index tumbled 422.94 points to 19,546.01, the energy index lost 3.91 points to 782.90, and the plantation index dipped 30.33 points to 8,504.95.
The Main Market volume improved to 1.98 billion units valued at RM3.87 billion from 1.78 billion units valued at RM3.41 billion on Tuesday.
Warrants turnover slid to 971.39 million units valued at RM117.20 million from 981.14 million units valued at RM133.62 million previously.
The ACE Market volume expanded to 583.66 million units valued at RM206.61 million from 471.50 million units valued at RM167.37 million on Tuesday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 263.32 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (367.03 million), construction (152.51 million), technology (380.56 million), financial services (121.22 million), property (144.16 million), plantation (41.69 million), real estate investment trusts (19.77 million), closed-end fund (19,300), energy (165.95 million), healthcare (104.73 million), telecommunications and media (99.77 million), transportation and logistics (29.36 million), utilities (88.65 million), and business trusts (508,300).
المصدر: Free Malaysia Today