Bursa Malaysia Remains Lower At Midday

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia remained lower at midday on selling pressure in selected heavyweights, led by the utilities, consumer products and services as well as transportation and logistics sectors.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.97 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 1,544.30 from last Friday’s close of 1,547.27.  

Tenaga Nasional fell 12 sen to RM13.62, Nestle gave up RM2.94 to RM69.20, and MISC lost 12 sen to RM6.94. These counters dragged the composite index down by a combined 3.26 points. 

The benchmark index, which opened 1.69 points easier at 1,545.58, moved between 1,538.60 and 1,550.0 during the morning trading session.

The broader market was negative, with decliners beating advancers 617 to 242, with 399 counters unchanged, 1,124 untraded, and 15 suspended. 

Turnover stood at 1.96 billion shares worth RM1.08 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI slumped to a year-to-date low at below the 1,550 level last Friday in line with the broad-based regional weaknesses.

“However, we expect a swift rebound, thus expecting the index to hover between the 1,550-1,565 range today.

“Fundamentally, the local bourse remains sound as the recent earnings result scorecard illustrates that 2025 growth is tagged at 9.2 per cent after a 16.4 per cent growth in 2024,” he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said bargain hunting is expected to emerge in the banking stocks after the recent sell-offs; supported by stable loan growth and attractive dividend, while REITs could gain traction due to a steady recovery in footfall.

“We opine that the delay of the 30 per cent tariff hike in port tariffs could provide some upside for local logistics players, particularly those involved in container handling and storage.

“We see trading opportunities in plantation stocks following the recent surge in crude palm oil prices,” he added. 

As for the other heavyweights, Petronas Gas shed 26 sen to RM16.62, Axiata fell five sen to RM1.83, Petronas Dagangan gave up 42 sen to RM17.26, but CIMB gained eight sen to RM7.60 and IHH Healthcare picked up by six sen to RM7.32. 

As for the actives, My EG Services added half-a-sen to 90.5 sen, SNS Network Technology gained one sen to 41.5 sen, NationGate lost 16 sen to RM1.17, while Sapura Energy and NexG were flat at 3.5 sen and 27 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index narrowed 44.56 points to 11,476.24, the FBM 70 Index tumbled 120.82 points to 16,221.65, the FBM Emas Shariah Index ticked down 94.81 points to 11,085.14, the FBM ACE Index slipped 53.47 points to 4,534.32, and the FBMT 100 Index declined 38.15 points to 11,257.40.

By sector, the Plantation Index picked up 6.71 points to 7,486.79, the Financial Services Index gained 19.77 points to 19,086.45, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.97 of-a-point lower at 154.26, and the Energy Index depreciated 4.57 points to 710.47.

-- BERNAMA