Domestic Equities Slide At Midday As Heavyweight Offloading Drives Benchmark Lower

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 – Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index extended early-session losses to close lower at midday on Friday, October 16, 2026, driven by sustained selling pressure across key banking and plantation heavyweights.

At 12:30 PM, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 10.75 points, or 0.66 per cent, to reach 1,612.95 compared with Thursday’s closing level of 1,623.70.

After opening 1.13 points higher at 1,624.83, the benchmark index fluctuated between an intra-morning low of 1,611.74 and a high of 1,626.34.

Despite the pullback in the main index, overall broader market sentiment remained relatively resilient, with gainers outpacing decliners 520 to 414, while 438 counters traded unchanged, 1,471 remained untraded, and 33 were suspended.

Total trading turnover stood at 1.90 billion units valued at RM1.43 billion.

Heavyweights, Active Volume Leaders, and Sectoral Summary

Market activity across key market sectors at the midday bell included:

• Heavyweight Movements: Financial stocks pulled the index lower, as Maybank dropped nine sen to RM9.99 and CIMB fell 17 sen to RM7.31. Conversely, Public Bank gained eight sen to RM4.82, while IHH Healthcare edged up one sen to RM7.99 and Tenaga Nasional closed flat at RM12.98.
• Active Volume Counters: Zetrix AI slipped half a sen to 6 sen, ACE Market debutant EGH International lost two sen to 14 sen, and Ni Hsin dropped one sen to 41.5 sen. On the upside, VS Industry added 1.5 sen to 34.5 sen, while Top Glove rose one sen to 91 sen.
• Top Gainers: Semiconductor and technology names rallied, led by Vitrox, which jumped 38 sen to RM10.70. Petronas Dagangan gained 28 sen to RM19.48, Pekat Group and Malaysian Pacific Industries each added 22 sen to RM2.75 and RM40.62, respectively, and Pentamaster Corporation climbed 20 sen to RM5.60.
• Top Decliners: Consumer and industrial heavyweights led the losing board, with Nestle plunging 84 sen to RM89.66 and Press Metal Aluminium tumbling 51 sen to RM6.66. Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 42 sen to RM20.68, Petronas Gas dropped 26 sen to RM17.34, and Dutch Lady Milk Industries shed 24 sen to RM29.04.
• Key Index Boards: The FBM Emas Index dipped 41.60 points to 12,031.91, the FBM Top 100 Index dropped 49.84 points to 11,826.02, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 44.73 points to 11,957.81. On the other hand, the FBM Mid 70 Index advanced 48.61 points to 17,228.35, while the FBM ACE Index jumped 103.96 points to 5,414.86.
• Sector Performance: The Plantation Index dropped 120.24 points to 8,723.63, the Financial Services Index slid 35.51 points to 18,791.13, and the Industrial Products and Services Index gave up 2.46 points to 174.46. Meanwhile, the Energy Index picked up 0.75 points to 823.62.

–NMT