KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — Bursa Malaysia ended lower today due to late selling in selected heavyweights, particularly in the healthcare, utilities and financial services sectors and was also in sync with regional market weakness.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 9.10 points or 0.53 per cent to 1,720.71 from yesterday’s close of 1,729.81.

The market bellwether opened 6.52 points lower at 1,723.29, and fluctuated between 1,719.93 and 1,737.12 throughout the day.

Market breadth was negative with losers beating gainers 707 to 442. A total of 486 counters were unchanged, 1,131 untraded and 11 suspended.

Turnover increased to 3.36 billion units worth RM4.96 billion from yesterday’s 3.33 billion units worth RM4.27 billion.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the FBM KLCI closed lower, reversing earlier gains as selling pressure intensified in the final 15 minutes of trading.

“The late-session decline was led by broad-based weakness across key index-linked sectors, particularly banking, healthcare and utilities, pointing to profit-taking and tactical de-risking ahead of the extended Hari Raya Aidilfitri holiday period,” he told Bernama. 

He said regionally, all major Asian indices also closed lower, reflecting a broader risk-off tone across markets amid elevated geopolitical uncertainty and firm oil prices.

“This suggests that the weakness in Bursa Malaysia was not isolated, but part of a wider regional pullback,” he said. 

Mohd Sedek said while the index had shown resilience earlier in the session, the late pullback underscores the market’s sensitivity to external developments, particularly the recent strength in oil prices and ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

“Investors appear to be locking in gains following the recent uptrend, while maintaining a cautious stance amid elevated uncertainty,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional markets closed lower after a weaker Wall Street performance as the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance set the stage for upcoming central bank decisions.

“Oil prices surged following an escalation in the US-Israel conflict with Iran, which unsettled investor sentiment,” he said.

Among heavyweights, IHH Healthcare gave up 36 sen to RM9.03, Petronas Gas decreased RM1.12 to RM16.80, Maybank went down 14 sen to RM11.60, while Petronas Chemicals gained 58 sen to RM5.48 and Press Metal Aluminium added 11 sen to RM7.77. 

On the most active list, Sunway Healthcare was 5.0 sen up to RM1.90, Tanco was flat at RM1.40, Zetrix AI inched down half-a-sen to 78.5 sen and Farm Fresh and Top Glove slid 2.0 sen each to RM2.55 and 55.5 sen.

Top gainers included United Plantations, which surged 84 sen to RM34.82, PPB rose 56 sen to RM11.60, Hong Leong Industries gained 30 sen to RM17.10, Kuala Lumpur Kepong was 26 sen higher at RM19.92 and Negri Sembilan Oil Palms advanced 25 sen to RM6.10. 

Top losers included Fraser & Neave, which dropped RM2.50 to RM29.30, Malaysian Pacific Industries, down 60 sen to RM29.60, Hong Leong Financial Group, which lost 52 sen to RM20.00, Nestle declined 50 sen to RM100.40, while Malayan Cement slipped 45 sen to RM6.50.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index weakened 73.39 points to 12,388.79, the FBM Emas Index fell 75.97 points to 12,538.80, the FBM 70 Index declined 137.39 points to 17,142.98, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 19.71 points to 12,267.30, and the FBM ACE Index lost 45.49 points to 4,404.29.

By sector, the Financial Services Index trimmed 213.90 points to 20,679.12, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 2.55 points to 183.16, the Energy Index added 10.06 points to 793.81, and the Plantation Index climbed 90.39 points to 8,688.90.

The Main Market volume narrowed to 2.09 billion units valued at RM4.74 billion from 2.21 billion units valued at RM4.05 billion on Wednesday.

Warrants turnover jumped to 1.02 billion units worth RM129.59 million from 807.81 million units worth RM98.88 million yesterday. 

The ACE Market volume declined to 245.39 million units valued at RM91.69 million from 304.66 million units valued at RM124.84 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 316.95 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (388.98 million), construction (158.61 million), technology (163.33 million), financial services (128.13 million), property (189.96 million), plantation (42.29 million), real estate investment trusts (73.14 million), closed-end fund (17,400), energy (190.14 million), healthcare (271.90 million), telecommunications and media (59.78 million), transportation and logistics (44.15 million), utilities (60.99 million), and business trusts (213,200). — Bernama