Bursa Malaysia Closes Lower on Profit-Taking as FBM KLCI Drops 11 Points Ahead of US Jobs Data

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Thursday as investors engaged in profit-taking following a recent market rebound, with telecommunications and industrial stocks leading the market contraction.

At 5:00 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 11.02 points to settle at 1,737.15 compared to Wednesday’s closing figure of 1,748.17. The key index opened 1.48 points higher at 1,749.65, which marked its intraday high, before touching an intraday low of 1,733.38 in the afternoon trading session.

Market breadth turned negative as decliners led advancers 575 to 567, while 573 counters remained unchanged, 1,028 were untraded, and 13 were suspended. Overall market turnover slipped to 3.24 billion units valued at RM2.90 billion from Wednesday’s 3.89 billion units valued at RM3.80 billion.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan noted that regional Asian equities ended lower as the previous session’s technology-driven rally lost momentum, prompting investors to lock in gains following recent advances in semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related shares.

Commenting on global developments shaping sentiment, Mohd Sedek pointed to cautious market behavior ahead of major international economic indicators.

“Progress towards a potential US-Iran agreement and softer crude oil prices have helped ease inflation concerns, while weaker-than-expected US private sector hiring reinforced expectations of a moderating labour market,” Mohd Sedek said, noting that buying interest remained subdued ahead of Friday’s US non-farm payrolls report, a key driver for Federal Reserve interest rate expectations.

Among key index heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) eased two sen to RM10.80, Public Bank Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd each dropped four sen to RM5.23 and RM7.97 respectively, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd erased 18 sen to RM14.48, while IHH Healthcare Bhd gained one sen to RM8.33.

Among active counters, Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd inched up three sen to 34 sen, Zetrix AI Bhd climbed two sen to 71 sen, and JCY International Bhd gained six sen to 47 sen. Conversely, Steel Hawk Bhd decreased four sen to 14 sen, while Tanco Holdings Bhd closed flat at 25.5 sen.

Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd topped the gainers chart, surging 72 sen to RM47.66, UWC Bhd leapt 31 sen to RM6.79, IJM Corp Bhd jumped 17 sen to RM2.66, and Theta Edge Bhd rose 16 sen to 71 sen. On the losing side, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd dipped RM1.20 to RM101.30, Hong Leong Industries Bhd dropped 34 sen to RM17.68, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd lost 32 sen to RM7.99, Petronas Gas Bhd slid 26 sen to RM17.18, and United Plantations Bhd sank 20 sen to RM34.20.

Across broader indices, the FBM Emas Index declined 46.49 points to 12,856.02, the FBM Top 100 Index shrank 51.66 points to 12,685.28, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 41.09 points to 12,691.54, and the FBM ACE Index eased 1.51 points to 5,037.75. Bucking the downward movement, the FBM Mid 70 Index rose 48.10 points to 18,326.06.

Sectorally, the Financial Services Index decreased 49.32 points to 20,519.85, the Plantation Index fell 46.15 points to 9,464.55, the Energy Index slipped 1.82 points to 762.41, and the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 2.46 points to 187.78.

Main Market volume dropped to 1.60 billion units valued at RM2.58 billion compared to 1.92 billion units valued at RM3.40 billion on Wednesday. Warrants turnover narrowed to 1.13 billion units worth RM146.50 million, while ACE Market volume dropped to 498.42 million units valued at RM175.55 million. Technology counters led Main Market volume with 372.09 million shares traded, followed by industrial products and services at 314.03 million shares and property counters at 273.33 million shares.

–NMT