KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday as buying interest shifted from index heavyweights to smaller-cap technology and telecommunications stocks as well as real estate investment trusts (REITs). 

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 15.94 points, or 0.98 per cent, to 1,607.76 from yesterday’s close of 1,623.70.

The benchmark index, which opened 1.13 points higher at 1,624.83, moved between 1,602.98 and 1,626.34 throughout the session.

On the broader market, gainers outnumbered decliners 597 to 470, while 518 counters were unchanged, 1,258 untraded and 33 suspended.

Turnover rose 3.13 billion units worth RM3.27 billion from 3.06 billion units worth RM3.03 billion on Thursday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the equities broker remains cautiously optimistic, encouraged by Malaysia’s resilient economic performance, with advanced estimate gross domestic product (GDP) expanding 5.3 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2026.

“We believe the recent market correction has created attractive opportunities among fundamentally sound blue chips, particularly those offering sustainable dividends and healthy earnings prospects,” he told Bernama. 

Among the heavyweights, Maybank decreased nine sen to RM9.99, Public Bank went up nine sen to RM4.83. CIMB lost 28 sen to RM7.20, and Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healtcare added each two sen to RM13.00 and RM8.00, respectively. 

In active trade, Zetrix AI lost one sen to 5.5 sen, while ACE Market debutant EGH International, which opened at 14.5 sen, 1.5 sen below its initial public offering price of 16 sen per share, closed 2.5 sen lower at 13.5 sen. Top Glove was flat at 90 sen, V.S Industry perked up one sen to 34 sen, and Ni Hsin declined to half a sen to 42 sen.  

Among the top gainers, MISC Bhd rose by 46 sen to RM8.76, Petronas Dagangan increased by 44 sen to RM19.64, Vitrox garnered 28 sen to RM10.60, KESM Industries leapt 25 sen to RM4.76, and Pekat group jumped 23 sen to RM2.76. 

The top losers included Nestle, which trimmed RM1.18 to RM89.32, Kuala Lumpur Kepong dipped RM1.10 sen to RM20.00, and Press Metal Aluminium tumbled 67 sen to RM6.50. Dutch Lady Milk Industries declined 36 sen to RM28.92 and Petronas Gas went down 28 sen to RM17.32. 

On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index decreased 13.79 points to 17,225.94, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 82.67 points to 11,919.87, the FBM Emas Index slid 81.25 points to 11,992.27, the FBM Top 100 Index lost 89.09 points to 11,786.77, while the FBM ACE Index soared 120.15 points to 5,431.05.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 4.13 points to 172.79, the Energy Index eased 1.87 points to 821.00, the Plantation Index tumbled 210.99 points to 8,632.88, and the Financial Services Index declined 74.82 points to 18,751.82.

The Main Market volume improved to 1.80 billion units worth RM2.97 billion from 1.75 billion units worth RM2.70 billion billion on Thursday.

Warrants turnover narrowed to 837.33 million units worth RM112.66 million from 846.48 million units worth RM117.72 million.

The ACE Market volume expanded to 493.41 million units valued at RM184.73 million from 454.44 million units valued at RM206.24 million.

Meanwhile, consumer products and services counters accounted for 270.83 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (353.67 million), construction (124.74 million), technology (464.09 million), financial services (139.43 million), property (94.05 million), plantation (26.84 million), real estate investment trusts (12.07 million), closed-end fund (9,100), energy (99.10 million), healthcare (101.52 million), telecommunications and media (22.96 million), transportation and logistics (47.32 million), utilities (43.12 million), and business trusts (100). — Bernama