KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 — Bursa Malaysia closed marginally lower in line with the weaker performance of regional peers as investors refrained from taking long positions ahead of the weekend.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.36 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 1,720.34 from Thursday’s close of 1,721.70.

The benchmark index opened 1.55 points higher at 1,723.25, and moved between 1,719.73 and 1,724.30 throughout the day.  

In the broader market, gainers led losers 575 to 530, while 645 counters were unchanged, 998 untraded and 49 suspended.

Turnover decreased to 3.22 billion units valued at RM3.25 billion from 3.48 billion units valued at RM3.10 billion on Thursday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said that across the region, major Asian indices experienced a pullback after reaching recent highs earlier in the week, as investors locked in profits and reassessed near-term risks.

“On the domestic front, we maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook, supported by resilient fundamentals and improving risk appetite following easing geopolitical concerns.

“However, market participation remains selective, with investors focusing on fundamentally strong and defensive sectors while avoiding aggressive positioning,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Maybank fell six sen to RM11.16, Public Bank declined three sen to RM4.81, Tenaga Nasional rose six sen to RM14.66, CIMB Group added two sen to RM7.80, and IHH Healthcare slipped three sen to RM8.82.

On the most active list, VS Industry edged up two sen to 22.5 sen, Zetrix AI eased half-a-sen to 86 sen, Luster Industries was unchanged at four sen, Mega Fortris perked up two sen to RM1.31, and AMS Advanced Material put on four sen to 34.5 sen.

Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries which garnered RM1.50 to RM37.84, Nestle gained RM1.30 to RM99.30, Vitrox Corp surged 54 sen to RM5.52, UWC soared 42 sen to RM5.42, and Press Metal climbed 35 sen to RM8.42.

As for top losers, Fraser & Neave which dropped 40 sen to RM30.30, Chin Teck Plantations fell 30 sen to RM10.80, Dutch Lady Milk Industries and United Plantations both slid 26 sen to RM32.60 and RM32.32, respectively, and Allianz Malaysia shed 22 sen to RM21.06.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index added 9.56 points to 12,715.72, the FBMT 100 Index ticked up 2.37 points to 12,549.30, the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 21.25 points to 12,586.61, the FBM 70 Index increased 56.18 points to 18,072.43, and the FBM ACE Index climbed 16.65 points to 4,652.32.

By sector, the Financial Services Index dipped 59.42 points to 20,222.81, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 2.40 points to 192.36, the Energy Index perked up 2.22 points to 830.31, while the Plantation Index fell 35.26 points to 8,845.26.

The Main Market volume rose to 1.80 billion units valued at RM2.94 billion from 1.76 billion units valued at RM2.77 billion on Thursday.   

Warrants turnover declined to 1.02 billion units worth RM147.79 million from 1.21 billion units worth RM151.16 million previously.  

The ACE Market volume tumbled to 396.83 million units valued at RM160.00 million compared to 508.12 million units valued at RM178.82 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 245.34 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (435.33 million), construction (170.34 million), technology (304.81 million), financial services (63.36 million), property (185.02 million), plantation (28.51 million), real estate investment trusts (11.77 million), closed-end fund (31,000), energy (141.98 million), healthcare (92.51 million), telecommunications and media (35.55 million), transportation and logistics (40.25 million), utilities (50.02 million), and business trusts (232,800). — Bernama