Bursa Malaysia snaps two-day rally as profit-taking, weak sentiment drag market

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — Bursa Malaysia ended lower today, snapping a two-day advance as investors took profits amid a cautious regional mood.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 7.76 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 1,622.84 at the close, after opening slightly firmer at 1,631.46 and moving between 1,617.79 and 1,632.95 throughout the session.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers edging past losers 584 to 523, while 541 counters were unchanged and 1,056 untraded.

Turnover eased to 3.28 billion shares worth RM2.30 billion from 3.93 billion shares worth RM3.32 billion yesterday.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said telecommunications and media counters weighed on the index, while industrial products and services stocks were the day’s main gainers.

He noted that despite 22 component stocks ending lower, the benchmark index remained in positive territory on a week-to-date basis.

Sentiment was also shaped by global cues as investors awaited two key US data releases — the ADP Employment Change and the ISM Services PMI for November.

“The ADP report is expected to show private-sector hiring slowing to 10,000 jobs from 42,000 in October,” he said.

“Meanwhile, the ISM Services PMI is projected to ease to 52.1 from 52.4. Any signs of weakness, especially in labour data, could strengthen expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut at the December meeting.”

Among heavyweights, Public Bank rose 3 sen to RM4.44 and Tenaga Nasional gained 10 sen to RM12.84. Maybank slipped 8 sen to RM10.26, CIMB fell 5 sen to RM7.95 and IHH Healthcare shed 9 sen to RM8.27.

On the actively traded list, Tanco climbed 3 sen to RM1.14, D&O Green Technologies advanced 7 sen to 83.5 sen, Capital A dipped 1 sen to 39 sen, V.S. Industry added 1.5 sen to 46 sen and Zetrix AI lost 2 sen to 81.5 sen.

Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which jumped RM1.24 to RM32.58, while KESM Industries rose 27 sen to RM3.13, Scicom (MSC) gained 26 sen to RM1.48, Ideal Capital added 25 sen to RM3.65, and Chin Teck Plantations increased 22 sen to RM11.02.

The biggest losers were Nestle, down RM3.60 to RM116.60; Fraser & Neave, down RM1.24 to RM35.12; Petronas Dagangan, down 72 sen to RM19.94; Petronas Gas, down 22 sen to RM17.48; and Spritzer, down 12 sen to RM2.92.

Across the index board, the FBM ACE Index climbed 29.22 points to 4,810.09 and the FBM Mid 70 Index gained 36.65 points to 16,762.65. The FBM Emas Index eased 29.53 points to 12,001.76, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 31.74 points to 11,816.38 and the FBMT 100 Index dipped 36.20 points to 11,785.39.

Sectoral performance was mixed: the Plantation Index rose 6.97 points to 8,098.07, the Financial Services Index slipped 1.92 points to 19,109.06, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.08 of a point to 166.04 and the Energy Index fell 0.46 of a point to 749.95.

Main Market turnover fell to 1.32 billion shares worth RM1.96 billion. Warrants volume slipped to 1.60 billion shares worth RM205.05 million, while ACE Market activity eased to 349.14 million shares valued at RM124.85 million.

Bursa Malaysia Bhd also announced that REX Industry Bhd will be renamed ETA Group Bhd effective 9am on December 8, with its warrants similarly rebranded. Stock codes will remain unchanged. — Bernama