KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 — Bursa Malaysia failed to sustain its early gains and closed lower, weighed down by profit-taking following its recent strong performance, with the benchmark index slipping 0.14 per cent.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.42 points to 1,712.74 compared with Thursday’s close of 1,715.16.

The benchmark index opened 2.47 points higher at 1,717.63 and fluctuated between 1,708.03 and 1,721.48 throughout the trading session.

Market breadth was negative, with decliners beating advancers by 564 to 482. A total of 589 counters were unchanged, while 1,021 counters were untraded and 22 were suspended.

Turnover declined to 3.08 billion units worth RM3.08 billion from Thursday’s 3.25 billion units worth RM3.32 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the benchmark index’s modest decline is viewed as a temporary pause after recent strong gains.

“Market conditions remain constructive, with dip-buying interest still evident in fundamentally sound blue-chip counters.

“As long as the FBM KLCI remains above the 1,680-90 support level, the broader upward trend should remain intact,” he told Bernama.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan concurred with Thong’s view, noting that the overall market conditions remain constructive as the pullback was limited in scale and did not signal a deterioration in underlying sentiment.

“The benchmark index declined by just 0.14 per cent, while mid- and small-cap indices ended in positive territory, underscoring continued risk appetite beyond large-cap names,” he said.

Among heavyweights, Maybank gained six sen to RM11.16, while Public Bank erased two sen to RM4.73, CIMB lost four sen to RM8.41, Tenaga Nasional slid six sen to RM13.86, and IHH fell five sen to RM8.38.

On the most active list, Zetrix AI was one sen lower at 81.5 sen, while Capital A perked up 1.5 sen to 54.5 sen, Velesto was half-a-sen higher at 28 sen, Northeast increased 5.5 sen to 66.5 sen, and Tanco ticked up one sen to RM1.25.

Of the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries rose 78 sen to RM34.48, Batu Kawan improved 26 sen to RM20.28, Southern Cable jumped 20 sen to RM2.44, LPI Capital firmed 18 sen to RM15.14, and Hong Leong Capital advanced 14 sen to RM3.53.

As for the leading decliners, United Plantations dipped RM1.28 to RM31.70, KL Kepong dropped 54 sen to RM20.00, Ayer Holdings sank 39 sen to RM7.00, and Malayan Cement and Westports slipped 23 sen each to RM7.60 and RM5.89, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 11.60 points to 12,645.03, the FBM Top 100 Index fell 13.30 points to 12,436.72, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 24.23 points to 12,302.82.

The FBM Mid 70 Index inched up 0.15 of-a-point to 17,685.61 while the FBM ACE Index put on 7.47 points to 4,973.43.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 21.53 points to 20,725.81, the Energy Index shed 2.38 points to 784.05, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.34 of-a-point to 175.07, and the Plantation Index sank 81.93 points to 8,367.10.

The Main Market volume declined to 1.56 billion units worth RM2.77 billion from Thursday’s 1.71 billion units worth RM2.98 billion.

Warrants turnover eased to 1.04 billion units worth RM140.83 million from 1.12 billion units worth RM168.64 million previously.

The ACE Market volume expanded to 475.95 million units worth RM173.76 million from 411.93 million units worth RM168.62 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 261.45 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (234.89 million), construction (153.80 million), technology (242.21 million), financial services (123.79 million), property (187.06 million), plantation (45.23 million), real estate investment trusts (20.38 million), closed-end fund (151,100), energy (115.65 million), healthcare (75.43 million), telecommunications and media (44.02 million), transportation and logistics (34.40 million), utilities (29.94 million), and business trusts (132,600). — Bernama