KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 — Bursa Malaysia pared earlier losses to end slightly lower as investors turned cautious ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on December 9-10, 2025.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 3.74 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 1,612.78 from last Friday’s close of 1,616.52.

The benchmark index, which opened 0.49 of-a-point lower at 1,616.03, climbed to its intraday high of 1,616.49 in early trade, but thereafter succumbed to selling pressure to hit a low of 1,601.50 in the mid-morning session before gaining further momentum for the rest of the day. 

On the broader market, decliners thumped gainers 738 to 328. A total of 561 counters were unchanged, 1,118 untraded, and 19 suspended.

Turnover improved to 3.32 billion units worth RM2.14 billion from 3.17 billion units worth RM2.24 billion on Friday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Bursa Malaysia closed broadly lower in tandem with regional market performance.

“Softer US economic data has raised expectations of a 25-basis-point rate cut, but sentiment eased after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell signalled that no final decision has been made,” he told Bernama.

Thong added that the FBM KLCI has been moving sideways since mid-October and is likely to stay range-bound in the absence of major catalysts, and despite its intraday decline, the index held above the 1,610 support level.

“We expect the index to move between 1,600 and 1,630 this week,” he added.

Among heavyweights, IHH Healthcare advanced 11 sen to RM8.51, Tenaga Nasional improved six sen to RM12.70, while Maybank eased six sen to RM10.12, CIMB Group eased one sen to RM7.90, and Public Bank declined two sen to RM4.37.

On the most active list, Tanco inched up one sen to RM1.18, Zetrix AI dipped 1.5 sen to 80 sen, ACE Market debutant BMS Holdings decreased 4.5 sen to 17.5 sen, PUC slid half-a-sen to two sen, while Velesto Energy was unchanged at 25 sen.

Top gainers included Nestle which rose 50 sen to RM112.50, Quality Concrete surged 30 sen to RM1.25, United Plantations gained 28 sen to RM28.72, Malaysian Pacific Industries increased 20 sen to RM32.10, and Sunway climbed 15 sen to RM5.58.

Among the top losers, Fraser & Neave shrank 34 sen to RM34.76, Ajinomoto declined 28 sen to RM13.62, Kuala Lumpur Kepong decreased 26 sen to RM18.92, Petronas Gas fell 22 sen to RM17.02, and Dutch Lady slipped 22 sen to RM31.50.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 36.76 points to 11,925.47, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 12.18 points to 11,784.87, the FBMT 100 Index declined 32.63 points to 11,711.19, the FBM ACE Index fell 32.51 points to 4,783.63, and the FBM Mid 70 Index decreased 70.57 points to 16,652.04.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 78.07 points to 18,933.26, the Energy Index retreated 5.31 points to 753.23, the Plantation Index tumbled 67.04 points to 8,029.21, while the Industrial Products & Services Index added 0.03 of-a-point to 165.81.

The Main Market volume dwindled to 1.16 billion units worth RM1.79 billion from 1.30 billion units worth RM1.92 billion on Friday.

Warrants turnover improved to 1.72 billion units worth RM218.31 million against 1.57 billion units worth RM208.62 million previously.

The ACE Market volume expanded to 437.41 million units valued at RM130.50 million versus 302.95 million units valued at RM107.28 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 248.89 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (197.90 million), construction (68.34 million), technology (141.23 million), financial services (53.04 million), property (147.56 million), plantation (33.49 million), real estate investment trusts (17.43 million), closed-end fund (12,000), energy (107.89 million), healthcare (68.85 million), telecommunications and media (23.47 million), transportation and logistics (31.02 million), utilities (25.45 million), and business trusts (30,300). — Bernama