Bursa Malaysia Stays In The Red At Midday, In Sync With Regional Peers

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia continued its downtrend at midday on selling pressure across the board and in tandem with regional markets amid the weaker overnight Wall Street performance, said an analyst. 

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 17.08 points or 1.08 per cent to 1,567.17 from Monday’s close of 1,584.25. 

The benchmark index opened 1.52 points easier at 1,582.73. 

On the broader market, decliners trumped gainers 840 to 157, with 347 counters unchanged, 1,006 untraded and seven suspended. 

Turnover stood at 1.78 billion shares worth RM1.22 billion.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said Wall Street extended its losses ahead of the technology heavyweight’s reporting season, coupled with softer economic data pointing to weakened consumer demand. 

"We expect Wall Street to trade in a volatile manner as Hong Kong futures are down," it said in a statement today. 

Meanwhile, Public Investment Bank Bhd said the upcoming week would also feature updates on consumer confidence and inflation, topics that are at the top of Wall Street’s agenda following last week’s slump.

It said the recent reports have shown that consumer sentiment is souring as expectations for inflation worsen, in part because of tariffs and other policies pushed by US President Donald Trump.

"Stubbornly high inflation could prevent the Federal Reserve (Fed) from delivering more relief for the economy and financial markets through lower interest rates. The Fed has been holding its main interest rate steady after sharply cutting it through the end of last year. 

"At their last policy meeting in January, Fed officials suggested they may stay on hold for a while given worries about how Trump’s proposed tariffs and mass deportations of migrants, along with other factors, could push inflation upward," it said.

Malacca Securities said opportunities would accumulate in the construction and retail sectors, given their oversold conditions, a solid outlook and steady earnings report from 99 Speedmart. 

Despite recent sell-offs, it believes traders may look out for bargain-hunting activities as Microsoft’s core strategy remains intact for its data centre and its 10-year outlook for cloud and AI. 

It also opined that selected healthcare and technology stocks like KPJ and ITMAX would be decent for long-term investment.

Bursa heavyweights Maybank was flat at RM10.48, CIMB dropped 16 sen to RM8.22, Public Bank eased two sen to RM4.45, Tenaga Nasional depreciated 26 sen to RM13.38, however IHH Healthcare added three sen to RM7.28. 

As for the actives, Ingenieur Gudang was flat at five sen, TWL inched up half-a-sen to 2.5 sen, MYEG Services edged down 2.5 sen to 98.5 sen and SFP Tech trimmed 3.5 sen to 36 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 168.68 points to 11,748.33, the FBMT 100 Index declined 162.28 points to 11,495.13, the FBM Emas Shariah Index tumbled 179.83 points to 11,427.18, the FBM 70 Index lost 385.08 points to 16,848.34, and the FBM ACE Index shed 115.36 points to 4,790.33.

By sector, the Financial Services Index lost 164.96 points to 19,141.62, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 2.92 points to 158.43, the Energy Index slipped 11.56 points to 757.31, and the Plantation Index was 20.33 points down at 7,549.97.

-- BERNAMA