KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 — Bursa Malaysia finished lower on Friday as investors continue locking in gains ahead of the Chinese New Year break next week, while concerns over global technology stocks continue to dampen investor sentiment and risk appetite.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 11.31 points or 0.65 per cent to 1,739.54 from Thursday’s close of 1,750.85.

The index opened 2.96 points lower at 1,747.89 and moved between 1,738.94 and 1,751.38 during the session.

Across the market, 709 decliners outpaced 407 gainers. A total of 538 counters were unchanged, 1,083 untraded and 11 suspended.

Turnover was lower at 2.43 billion units worth RM2.6 billion from 2.57 billion units worth RM2.79 billion yesterday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI finished lower as investors continued to take profit following the recent gains.

“Key regional indices also trended lower tracking an overnight slide in US technology shares as renewed jitters over artificial intelligence valuations dented risk appetite. The pullback came after a strong rally earlier this week driven by artificial intelligence optimism and robust corporate earnings,” he told Bernama.

As for the local bourse, Thong said the benchmark index has eased slightly after reaching recent highs.

Most key regional indices were lower at the time of writing, with the Hang Seng Index sliding 1.72 per cent to 26,567.12, Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 1.21 per cent to 56,941.97, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index declining 1.65 per cent to 4,394.03, while South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index erased 0.28 per cent to 5,507.01.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and Tenaga Nasional were eight sen lower at RM12.06 and RM13.96 respectively, CIMB was down seven sen to RM8.46, Public Bank lost nine sen to RM5.04 but IHH added 10 sen to RM8.83.

On the most active list, Zen Tech erased half-a-sen to half-a-sen, Zetrix AI was two sen down to 80 sen, Main Market debutant Hock Soon lost four sen to 56 sen and Tanco gained three sen to RM1.41.

United Plantations and Hong Leong Industries were the leading gainers with 56 sen and 36 sen to RM30.18 and RM18.98 respectively.

As for the leading decliners, Nestle dipped RM1.60 to RM109.00, Malaysian Pacific Industries shed RM1.22 to RM29.78, Hong Leong Financial and Hong Leong Group both lost 58 sen to RM22.10 and RM24.12 respectively while Allianz was 48 sen lower at RM22.50.

On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index decreased 66.08 points to 12,564.81, the FBM Emas Index reduced 67.24 points to 12,738.20, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 39.63 points to 12,222.01, the FBM Mid 70 Index lost 21.95 points to 17,569.67, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 34.08 points to 4,741.05.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index contracted 238.99 points to 21,523.88, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 1.65 points to 175.08, and the Energy Index advanced 0.15 of a point to 751.10, while the Plantation Index added 21.9 points to 8,376.93.

The Main Market volume fell to 1.32 billion units worth RM2.39 billion from 1.45 billion units worth RM2.51 billion on Thursday.

Warrant turnover rose to 640.31 million units worth RM64.46 million from 620.26 million units worth RM71.28 million previously.

The ACE Market volume tumbled to 467.48 million units valued at RM140.40 million from 500.07 million units valued at RM206.99 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 257.33 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (220.09 million), construction (131.14 million), technology (184.32 million), financial services (103.83 million), property (144.98 million), plantation (35.48 million), real estate investment trusts (22.53 million), closed-end fund (5,600), energy (52.92 million), healthcare (77.59 million), telecommunications and media (40.82 million), transportation and logistics (25.68 million), utilities (27.64 million), and business trusts (438,900). — Bernama