Bursa Malaysia Ends Lower Due To Selling Pressure On Financial Services Heavyweights
By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad
KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index ended lower today, dragged down by continued selling pressure on selected heavyweights, led by the financial services sector.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 5.51 points or 0.35 per cent to 1,558.91 from yesterday’s close of 1,564.42.
The market bellwether opened 4.53 points higher at 1,568.95, and moved between 1,554.85 and 1,569.43 throughout the day.
However, on the broader market, advancers led decliners 584 to 393, while 452 counters were unchanged, 913 untraded, and seven suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 2.98 billion units worth RM2.67 billion from 3.15 billion units worth RM2.74 billion yesterday.
CIMB fell 30 sen to RM7.50, Hong Leong Bank lost 40 sen to RM20.90, and Public Bank slid four sen to RM4.59, collectively pulling the composite index down by 8.25 points.
UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd's head of investment research, Mohd Sedek Jantan, said the FBM KLCI closed lower today, unable to sustain its earlier momentum, primarily due to a decline in financial stocks.
However, he said that the pullback was likely temporary as the sector's fundamentals remained solid.
“Loan growth among financial institutions remained in the mid-single digits in January and is expected to gain traction throughout 2025, supported by developments in the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone and the Malaysian government’s advancing industrial and economic agenda.
“In January, sector-wide lending grew by 5.7 per cent year-on-year, while bank deposits increased by 3.1 per cent over the same period,” he told Bernama.
He said that despite the broader index closing lower, trading activity indicates signs of recovery, with most FBM KLCI component stocks continuing their rebound from the previous session.
Among other heavyweights, Gamuda erased 11 sen to RM4.13, CelcomDigi was four sen lower at RM3.55, Maybank lost two sen to RM10.56, but Maxis increased 14 sen to RM3.50 and Sime Darby perked up by nine sen to RM2.14.
As for the actives, MyEG Services gained six sen to 97 sen, G3 Global was flat at one sen, NexG and OCR Group inched up half-a-sen each to 26.5 sen and 3.5 sen, and NationGate rose one sen to RM1.42.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index weakened 10.65 points to 11,603.34, the FBMT 100 Index shed 16.98 points to 11,380.30, the FBM Emas Shariah Index recovered 54.22 points to 11,299.93, the FBM ACE Index climbed 10.57 points to 4,596.85, and the FBM 70 Index expanded 68.37 points to 16,464.42.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lost 229.48 points to 19,073.47 and the Industrial Products and Services Index advanced 1.19 points to 156.65, the Energy Index depreciated 4.06 points to 723.60, and the Plantation Index was 57.39 points firmer at 7,566.86.
The Main Market volume declined to 1.63 billion units worth RM2.44 billion from 1.68 billion units worth RM2.49 billion on Wednesday.
Warrants turnover slid to 1.03 billion units worth RM122.82 million against 1.10 billion units worth RM128.53 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume weakened to 313.62 million units valued at RM111.93 million versus 357.24 million units valued at RM119.96 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 270.28 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (218.01 million), construction (152.10 million), technology (369.14 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (153.20 million), property (138.86 million), plantation (24.76 million), REITs (11.72 million), closed/fund (30,800), energy (123.45 million), healthcare (72.12 million), telecommunications and media (26.08 million), transportation and logistics (31.0 million), utilities (42.67 million), and business trusts (44,500).
-- BERNAMA