KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Bursa Malaysia’s key index closed lower today as profit-taking in banking heavyweights weighed on the benchmark, although sentiment across the broader market remained steady.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 9.16 points, or 0.52 per cent, to close at 1,722.29 from last Friday’s close of 1,731.45.

The benchmark index opened 1.20 points higher at 1,732.65 and moved between 1,720.05 and 1,733.76 throughout the day.

On the broader market, advancers beat decliners 590 to 463, while 581 counters were unchanged, 1,101 untraded, and 12 suspended.

Turnover narrowed to 3.27 billion units valued at RM2.21 billion from 3.44 billion units valued at RM3.04 billion on Friday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said regional markets were mixed as South Korean equities declined on concerns over elevated artificial intelligence (AI)-related valuations, while China and Hong Kong stocks outperformed following renewed optimism over the country’s AI sector.

“At the same time, Brent crude climbed above US$90 (RM368) per barrel amid escalating West Asia tensions, raising concerns over inflationary pressures and the outlook for global interest rates.

“While escalating geopolitical tensions and higher crude oil prices may continue to dampen overall market sentiment, sustained foreign fund inflows and resilient buying interest in selected blue-chip stocks should help cushion the downside,” he told Bernama.

Hence, he said sector rotation to remain a key theme, with investors favouring energy and plantation counters on firmer commodity prices, while selective opportunities may also emerge in fundamentally strong banking and defensive stocks.

“Looking ahead, we expect the FBM KLCI to remain range-bound between 1,710 and 1,740 this week,” he added.

Among heavyweight counters, Maybank decreased 18 sen to RM11.02, Public Bank fell six sen to RM5.19, and CIMB shed seven sen to RM7.75, while Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM14.30 and RM8.50, respectively.

As for the active stocks, Inari Amertron rose by 11 sen to RM2.28, while Pegasus Heights and Aimax were flat at half-a-sen and one sen, respectively, Zetrix AI eased 2.5 sen to 72 sen, and Tanco gave up three sen to 30.5 sen.

Of the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries garnered RM1.46 sen to RM44.66, Vitrox jumped 41 sen to RM7.69, Westports surged 38 sen to RM6.53, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd increased by 34 sen to RM5.64, and Kelington added 28 sen to RM7.78.

For the top losers, Nestle shrank 78 sen to RM92.66, Hong Leong Financial erased 48 sen to RM18.34, Hong Leong Bank retreated 20 sen to RM22.24, and RHB Bank slid 16 sen to RM8.37.

Among the broader indices, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 41.18 points to 12,529.65, the FBM 70 Index went up 139.96 points to 17,914.88, and the FBM ACE Index jumped 31.62 points to 4,910.77.

The FBM Emas Index slid 17.91 points to 12,701.18 and the FBMT 100 Index erased 25.40 points to 12,532.15.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index tumbled 237.18 points to 20,298.18, the Plantation Index gained 9.77 points to 9,493.54, while the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.46 of a point to 186.19, and the Energy Index improved 9.48 points to 775.76.

The Main Market volume trimmed to 1.62 billion units valued at RM1.93 billion compared to 1.65 billion units valued at RM2.72 billion on Friday.

Warrants turnover slipped to 1.20 billion units worth RM141.55 million versus 1.28 billion units worth RM152.59 million previously.

The ACE Market volume fell to 422.86 million units valued at RM135.92 million from 504.91 million units valued at RM171.06 million last Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 147.01 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (249.20 million), construction (94.93 million), technology (335.70 million), financial services (62.05 million), property (423.76 million), plantation (28.35 million), real estate investment trusts (11.77 million), closed-end fund (4,200), energy (121.77 million), healthcare (45.40 million), telecommunications and media (24.30 million), transportation and logistics (46.76 million), utilities (17.28 million), and business trusts (111,300). — Bernama