KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Bursa Malaysia recorded a decline of 0.82 per cent at the close today with the diversified composition of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) helping to cushion the impact of global market weakness.

Global markets were jittery amid resurfacing geopolitical tensions in West Asia and heavy selling in global technology counters.

At 5 pm, the FBM KLCI finished 13.91 points lower at 1,679.52 from last Friday’s close of 1,693.43.

The benchmark index opened 9.89 points weaker at 1,683.54 and traded between 1,676.95 and 1,684.14 throughout the session.

Losers surpassed gainers in the broader market by 916 to 340, while 455 counters were unchanged, 964 untraded and 13 suspended.

Turnover inched up to 3.48 billion units worth RM2.92 billion from 3.41 billion units worth RM3.04 billion  last Friday.

Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.22 per cent to 24,657.06, Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 1.65 per cent to 4,966.47, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 3.85 per cent to 64,024.60 and South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index, which was halted earlier after it plunged more than eight per cent, tumbled 8.29 per cent to 7,484.41.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said Bursa Malaysia demonstrated notable resilience relative to its regional peers despite ending in negative territory.

“The decline in the FBM KLCI was considerably milder than those recorded in major regional markets such as South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and even Singapore, where equities came under greater pressure amid the global risk-off environment,” he said.

Mohd Sedek added that the FBM KLCI has a lower concentration of technology stocks compared with many regional benchmarks.

“While technology-heavy markets were more vulnerable to the sharp correction in US semiconductor and AI-related stocks, the diversified composition of the FBM KLCI helped cushion the impact of the external shock,” he said.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Brent crude rose above US$97 per barrel on concerns over supply disruptions.

“As for Bursa Malaysia, investors are cautious due to the potential impact of elevated oil prices on global inflation and interest rate expectation due to the geopolitical tensions,” he added.

Persistent foreign selling and the lack of strong market catalysts may continue to weigh on sentiment in the near term, he said.

“While bargain hunting could emerge intermittently following the recent correction, investors are likely to remain selective amid the uncertain external environment. As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to remain volatile and trade with a cautious tone, trending within the 1,670-1,690 range for the week,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank erased 10 sen to RM10.70, Public Bank retreated nine sen to RM4.78, Tenaga Nasional added six sen to RM14.20, IHH Healthcare lost 25 sen to RM8.60 while CIMB was flat at RM7.39.

Among the active stocks, Zetrix AI slipped half-a-sen to 82 sen, TFP Solutions was 2.5 sen better at 5.5 sen, Top Glove rose three sen to 84.5 sen while Hong Seng Consolidated and VS Industry were flat at one sen and 21 sen respectively.

As for the top gainers, Concrete Engineering jumped 65 sen to RM3.99, Ideal Capital surged 30 sen to RM4.10, PJBumi advanced 18 sen to RM3.45, and Kim Loong racked up 15 sen to RM2.70.

Among the top losers, Nestle gave up RM2.28 to RM92.00, Malaysian Pacific Industries dipped RM1.30 to RM45.50, Petronas Dagangan weakened 64 sen to RM18.60, Tanco was 47 sen lower at RM1.12.

Hong Leong Bank was 36 sen easier at RM20.96 and Hong Leong Financial was 34 sen lower at RM18.50.

Meanwhile, technology stocks, Nationgate Holdings down 3.5 sen to 76 sen, ViTrox Corporation lost 16 sen to RM6.74, Northeast Group erased six sen to RM1.00, Frontken Corporation was down 11 sen to RM4.81, Inari Amerton was two sen easier at RM2.23 and Unisem was 17 sen lower at RM4.90. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 131.97 points to 12,470.08, the FBM Top 100 Index notched down 126.41 points to 12,315.49, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 127.11 points to 12,443.04.

The FBM Mid 70 Index dropped 289.20 points to 18,010.39 and the FBM ACE Index edged down 84.86 points to 4,648.38.

By sector, the Financial Services Index shrank 223.82 points to 19,560.49, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.73 points to 197.01, and the Energy Index slid 5.26 points to 790.94, but the Plantation Index gained 53.86 points to 8,725.40.

Main Market volume narrowed to 1.68 billion units valued at RM2.53 billion from 1.78 billion units valued at RM2.67 billion last Friday.

Warrants turnover rose to 1.25 billion units valued at RM188.07 million from 1.07 billion units valued at RM158.92 million previously.

ACE Market volume trimmed to 545.18 million units valued at RM194.35 million from 557.48 million units valued at RM208.90 million on Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 208.28 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services (360.98 million), construction (132.83 million), technology (357.16 million), financial services (62.68 million), property (184.68 million), plantation (31.26 million), real estate investment trusts (15.12 million), closed-end funds (295,200), energy (106.22 million), healthcare (109.30 million), telecommunications and media (42.90 million), transportation and logistics (28.35 million), utilities (39.97 million), and business trusts (27,300). — Bernama