FBM KLCI Edges Lower At Midday As Weak Wall Street Sentiment Weighs On Equities

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 – Bursa Malaysia ended Friday’s morning trading session lower on October 23, 2026, tracking broader weakness across regional equity markets following a tech-led pullback on Wall Street overnight.

At 12:30 PM, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 3.05 points, or 0.19 per cent, to close at 1,605.09 compared to Thursday’s close of 1,608.14.

The index opened 0.51 of a point lower at 1,607.63 and moved within a range of 1,604.63 to 1,609.93 throughout the morning session.

Market breadth remained negative as decliners outpaced gainers 537 to 345, while 465 counters traded unchanged, 1,554 untraded, and 16 were suspended. Total trading turnover stood at 1.81 billion units valued at RM1.04 billion.

Heavyweight Movements, Top Movers, and Sectoral Performance

Key stock developments and index performances across sectors included:

• Heavyweight Stock Movements: Public Bank added one sen to RM4.72, and SD Guthrie rose three sen to RM5.76. In contrast, Maybank slipped one sen to RM9.96, while CIMB and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) fell four sen each to RM7.11 and RM13.20, respectively.
• Top Market Gainers: Consumer and industrial heavyweights led the advancers, with Nestle surging 54 sen to RM89.50, Petronas Chemicals and Kelington both jumping 16 sen to RM4.65 and RM8.54, respectively, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) adding 12 sen to RM20.42.
• Top Market Decliners: Financial and tech-linked counters faced selling pressure, with Allianz Malaysia ICPS dropping 48 sen to RM19.52, Malaysian Pacific Industries (MPI) losing 34 sen to RM39.96, Hong Leong Bank falling 26 sen to RM21.24, and Batu Kawan declining 22 sen to RM19.08.
• Active Stocks: Active trading was seen in Zetrix AI, which gained 1.5 sen to 6.5 sen, and Ni Hsin, which rose 2.5 sen to 48.5 sen. Meanwhile, V.S. Industry shed one sen to 32 sen, and MAG Holdings slipped half-a-sen to 15.5 sen.
• Sectoral & Broad Indices: The Plantation Index climbed 11.75 points to 8,674.43, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.21 of a point to 175.66, and the Energy Index rose 0.23 of a point to 832.03. Conversely, the Financial Services Index fell 46.22 points to 18,558.78, the FBM Emas Index dropped 16.66 points to 11,947.84, the FBM Top 100 Index slid 15.47 points to 11,754.36, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 15.16 points to 11,916.82, and the FBM ACE Index fell 5.92 points to 5,317.58. The FBM Mid 70 Index bucked the trend by edging up 6.37 points to 17,124.74.

–NMT