Bursa Malaysia Closes Lower on Heavyweight Profit-Taking, Weaker Petrochemical Sentiment

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 – Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Wednesday as investors engaged in profit-taking among selected heavyweights, compounded by weaker sentiment toward petrochemical counters as global oil prices continued to slide.

At 5 PM, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 7.07 points, or 0.42 percent, to settle at 1,676.43 compared to Tuesday’s close of 1,683.50.

The index opened 1.31 points lower at 1,682.19 and traded between 1,675.15 and 1,685.37 throughout the day.

Market breadth was nearly balanced, with decliners narrowly leading gainers 549 to 519, while 577 counters remained unchanged, 1,226 untraded, and 27 suspended.

Total turnover narrowed to 3.20 billion units valued at RM2.99 billion compared with 3.57 billion units worth RM3.15 billion recorded on Tuesday.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan noted that crude oil prices fell after US President Donald Trump stated that discussions between US and Iranian representatives at the United Nations were “very good,” raising hopes of de-escalation and easing geopolitical risk premiums in energy markets.

Mohd Sedek added that investors remained cautious ahead of an upcoming meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is expected to influence broader sentiment regarding global trade and economic growth.

“The combination of profit-taking and softer energy prices kept the index under pressure, although the broader market remained focused on geopolitical developments and the direction of oil prices,” he said.

Among index heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM10.14, CIMB gained three sen to RM7.93, Tenaga Nasional rose four sen to RM13.14, and IHH Healthcare closed unchanged at RM8.00. Public Bank edged down one sen to RM4.83.

Most active counters included Zetrix AI, which fell two sen to 18.5 sen, Jaks Resources, down half a sen to 16.5 sen, Velesto Energy, which shed one sen to 23 sen, and Capital A, which lost 1.5 sen to 25.5 sen. V.S Industry rose two sen to 25 sen.

Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which jumped RM1.38 to RM44.58, Nestle, which gained 34 sen to RM89.50, and KESM Industries, which advanced 32 sen to RM4.33. Ayer and Petronas Gas also moved up, adding 27 sen and 22 sen to RM7.47 and RM17.50, respectively.

Conversely, top decliners included Dutch Lady, which dropped 50 sen to RM30.40, while United Plantations and Hong Leong Industries fell 34 sen each to RM33.20 and RM16.72. Sarawak Oil Palms gave up 24 sen to RM5.85, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 20 sen to RM22.50.

Across broader indices, the FBM Mid 70 Index fell 10.60 points to 17,833.80, the FBM Emas Index slid 36.79 points to 12,477.35, the FBM Top 100 Index dropped 40.28 points to 12,267.60, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 6.16 points to 12,320.22. The FBM ACE Index bucked the downward trend, advancing 58.30 points to 5,247.41.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.05 of a point to 184.95, and the Energy Index picked up 5.80 points to 50.45. The Financial Services Index fell 156.90 points to 19,577.78, while the Plantation Index dropped 46.22 points to 9,409.80.

Main Market volume contracted to 1.95 billion units worth RM2.67 billion from 2.12 billion units valued at RM2.78 billion on Tuesday. ACE Market volume slipped to 461.73 million units worth RM199.84 million. Warrant turnover stood at 788.71 million units valued at RM114.81 million.

–NMT