Bursa closes lower as Middle East tensions rattle investor sentiment

KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — Bursa Malaysia closed lower today as renewed geopolitical tensions in West Asia weighed on investor sentiment.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.97 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 1,677.64 from yesterday’s close of 1,683.61.

The benchmark index opened 2.62 points lower at 1,680.99, and moved between 1,676.18 and 1,683.80 throughout the session.

However, market breadth was slightly positive, with gainers leading losers 533 to 504, while 547 counters were unchanged, 1,112 untraded, and 12 suspended.

Turnover slipped to 2.64 billion units valued at RM2.19 billion from 2.96 billion units valued at RM2.18 billion yesterday.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said market sentiment was cautious after the US launched a second consecutive day of strikes on Iranian targets to safeguard shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, while revoking Iran’s oil export waiver.

This signals the possibility of further escalation, raising concerns over global energy supplies, he said.

“Despite the weaker index performance, market breadth improved from yesterday, with gainers leading by a broad-based advance across financial services, consumer, telecommunications and industrial stocks, suggesting selective bargain hunting and underlying resilience in domestic equities.

“Meanwhile, Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to maintain the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 2.75 per cent provided policy certainty, reinforcing confidence in the domestic economic outlook and offering businesses and investors greater clarity for investment and expansion decisions,” he told Bernama.

Earlier today, BNM in a statement announced that its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has maintained the OPR at 2.75 per cent for the seventh consecutive period.

Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank and Public Bank fell eight sen each to RM10.86 and RM4.85, respectively, CIMB slipped four sen to RM7.60, while both Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM14.30 and RM8.32, respectively.

As for active stocks, ACE Market debutant SRKK AI surged 29 sen to 61 sen, Dagang NeXchange rose one sen to 44 sen, Nationgate and Tanco inched up half a sen each to 80.5 sen and 19 sen, respectively, while Zetrix AI slipped 2.5 sen to 72.5 sen.

Of the top gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries climbed 56 sen to RM46.26, Kelington added 28 sen to RM7.98, Nestle garnered 20 sen to RM91.30, and MI Technovation jumped 19 sen to RM4.82.

Fraser & Neave led the losers list, falling 72 sen to RM28.92, while Hong Leong Bank dipped 38 sen to RM21.70, BLD Plantation fell 36 sen to RM14.84, Kuala Lumpur Kepong slid 28 sen to RM21.22, and Petronas Chemicals was 12 sen lower at RM4.35.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index sank 21.53 points to 12,440.48 and the FBMT 100 Index declined 25.66 points to 12,268.10, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index improved 15.09 points to 12,280.28, the FBM 70 Index gained 39.29 points to 17,797.64, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 44.32 points to 4,891.09.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index rose 2.62 points to 773.96, while the Plantation Index slid 17.40 points to 9,076.98, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.14 of a point to 180.66, and the Financial Services Index tumbled 157.35 points to 19,828.08.

The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.09 billion units valued at RM1.83 billion compared with 1.18 billion units valued at RM1.87 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover decreased to 1.03 billion units worth RM138.27 million versus 1.35 billion units worth RM170.96 million previously.

The ACE Market volume increased to 520.91 million units valued at RM219.12 million from 425.13 million units valued at RM138.50 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 142.08 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (188.43 million), construction (79.78 million), technology (249.38 million), financial services (56.27 million), property (124.35 million), plantation (30.12 million), real estate investment trusts (8.54 million), closed-end fund (25,900), energy (76.39 million), healthcare (48.90 million), telecommunications and media (24.28 million), transportation and logistics (33.56 million), utilities (31.03 million), and business trusts (75,000). — Bernama