KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index reversed earlier gains to end lower today, weighed down by losses in telecommunications and banking sectors, despite a broadly positive performance across Asian markets.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local market remains under pressure amid lingering concerns over geopolitical tensions, elevated oil prices and uncertainty surrounding the global interest rate outlook.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 10.33 points, or 0.61 per cent, to finish at its intraday low of 1,672.74 compared with Friday’s close of 1,683.07.

The local bourse resumed trading after being closed on Monday and Tuesday for public holidays.

The benchmark index opened 4.06 points higher at 1,687.13 and climbed to an intraday high of 1,693.09 during the morning session before losing momentum to end the day lower.

Market breadth was negative, with decliners outnumbering advancers 702 to 517, while 535 counters were unchanged, 849 untraded, and 13 suspended.

Turnover fell to 3.85 billion units valued at RM4.69 billion compared with 4.94 billion units valued at RM10.74 billion on Friday. 

Thong said the FBM KLCI gave erased earlier gains and closed lower as investors stayed on the sidelines and avoided aggressive buying, amid expectations that market sentiment would remain cautious and trading activity selective in the near term.

“That said, the recent pullback has pushed the market closer to an oversold position, which could attract bargain-hunting interest, particularly in fundamentally strong blue-chip stocks,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said robust US labour market data and resilient inflation readings have reinforced expectations that the US Federal Reserve may keep interest rates unchanged for a longer period.

However, he said that the weakness in local banking stocks was more likely due to sector rotation and profit-taking rather than a direct reaction to the US economic data.

Among heavyweights, Maybank lost 22 sen to RM10.42, Tenaga Nasional dropped 20 sen to RM14.08, CIMB slipped 28 sen to RM7.20, and IHH trimmed 25 sen to RM8.76. Public Bank increased by three sen to RM4.74.

Among active stocks, ACE Market debutant Bus Cap gained 8.5 sen to 31.5 sen, Zetrix bagged two sen to 82.5 sen, VS Industry edged up 1.5 sen to 22 sen, Top Glove added five sen to 85.5 sen, while Nationgate was four sen lower at 84 sen.

Top gainers included Nestle, which garnered RM2.52 to RM93.52, while Petronas Dagangan jumped 86 sen to RM18.60, Malayan Cement increased 40 sen to RM6.94, Ajinomoto climbed 38 sen to RM14.24, and Petronas Chemicals advanced 31 sen to RM5.52.

As for the top losers, United Plantations declined 96 sen to RM30.12, Kuala Lumpur Kepong decreased 82 sen to RM19.50, Fraser & Neave dipped 64 sen to RM27.66, Batu Kawan retreated 36 sen to RM19.60, and Hong Leong Industries slid 34 sen to RM18.66. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shaved off 67.44 points to 12,512.68, the FBM Top 100 Index shrank 70.04 points to 12,347.50, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 22.69 points to 12,581.38.

The FBM Mid 70 Index slipped 78.10 points to 18,406.22 and the FBM ACE Index declined 38.15 points to 4,725.66.

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 2.97 points to 200.79, the Financial Services Index tumbled 203.26 points to 19,321.03, the Plantation Index slid 49.11 points to 8,450.43, while the Energy Index increased 9.26 points to 788.01.

The Main Market volume dwindled to 2.20 billion units valued at RM4.34 billion from 3.56 billion units valued at RM10.15 billion on Friday.

Warrants turnover expanded to 969.97 million units valued at RM115.65 million from 830.47 million units valued at RM105.18 million previously.

The ACE Market volume swelled to 671.50 million units valued at RM228.81 million from 550.09 million units valued at RM218.76 million last Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 276.10 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (587.97 million), construction (192.26 million), technology (315.62 million), financial services (155.95 million), property (115.25 million), plantation (38.91 million), real estate investment trusts (22.02 million), closed-end fund (22,900), energy (143.26 million), healthcare (192.62 million), telecommunications and media (62.33 million), transportation and logistics (29.21 million), utilities (76.46 million), and business trusts (384,900). — Bernama