Bursa Malaysia Marginally Lower At Midday In Cautious Trading 

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia edged down at the midday break amid a mixed and cautious regional market performance.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dipped 1.27 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 1,644.41 from Monday's close of 1,645.68. The benchmark index had initially opened 1.78 points higher at 1,647.46.

The market breadth remained negative, with decliners outpacing gainers 475 to 334 while 476 counters were unchanged, 1,196 untraded and 13 suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.27 billion units valued at RM936.54 million.  

Given the mixed Wall Street performance overnight, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd expects funds to remain on the sidelines. However, it reckons that attention may shift to sectors set to benefit from Budget 2025 policies, including construction, property, technology, and renewable energy.

"We expect the market to remain cautious as major US companies will release their results this week. Also, traders will closely monitor key economic data, including US unemployment claims and the flash manufacturing and services purchasing managers’ index," it said. 

Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB) said FBM KLCI will likely trend sideways as investors “continue to recalibrate” the overall Budget 2025 details and brace for the upcoming US results season. 

Moreover, it said the outlook may be tempered by external risks, including the potential for a wider Middle East conflict, a contentious US election and uncertainties surrounding China's stimulus measures and its economic recovery plans.

Back home, among heavyweight counters, Maybank trimmed two sen to RM10.64, Tenaga Nasional dropped 10 sen to RM14.54 while both Public Bank and CIMB Group eased one sen each to RM4.56 and RM8.19, respectively. 

As for the active stocks, Niche Capital Emas added two sen to 18.5  sen, MY E.G. Services added one sen to 90 sen, Sarawak Cable inched up half-a-sen to 12.5 sen and Alpha IVF was flat at 36.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 14.67 points to 12,290.31, the FBMT 100 Index climbed 2.05 points to 12,073.31 and the FBM 70 Index advanced 45.42 points to 17,788.36. 

In contrast,  the FBM Emas Index edged down 1.21 points to 12,367.26 and the FBM ACE Index gave up 5.97 points to 5,102.97. 

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 0.06 of a point to 177.16 and the Plantation Index expanded 12.36 points to 7,253.53. The Financial Services Index slipped 1.5 points to 19,475.70 and the Energy Index lost 2.97 points to 858.11.

-- BERNAMA