Bursa Malaysia Snaps Two-day Rally On Profit-taking

By Durratul Ain Ahmad Fuad

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia snapped its two-day rally to close lower today, as investors engaged in profit-taking amid a more cautious trading tone, mirroring the mostly downbeat performance of regional peers.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 7.76 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 1,622.84 from Tuesday’s close of 1,630.60.

The benchmark index, which opened 0.86 of-a-point higher at 1,631.46, moved between 1,617.79 and 1,632.95 throughout the day. 

However, the broader market was positive, with advancers beating decliners 584 to 523. A total of 541 counters were unchanged, 1,056 untraded, and seven suspended.

Turnover narrowed to 3.28 billion units worth RM2.30 billion from 3.93 billion units worth RM3.32 billion yesterday.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said that telecommunications and media counters led the declines among index constituents, while industrial products and services counters emerged as the main gainers.

“Although 22 component stocks ended in negative territory, the benchmark index remains positive on a week-to-date basis,” he told Bernama.

He said, in the global trading cycle, attention is shifting to the United States, where investors await two key economic releases during the North American session namely the US ADP Employment Change and the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for November.

“The ADP report is expected to show that private employers added only 10,000 workers, a steep decline from the 42,000 recorded in October.

“Meanwhile, the ISM Services PMI is projected to soften to 52.1 from 52.4 previously. Any signs of weakness, particularly in the private-sector labour figures, could reinforce expectations that the Federal Reserve may consider an interest rate cut at its December policy meeting,” he added.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank added 3.0 sen to RM4.44, Tenaga Nasional rose 10 sen to RM12.84, Maybank eased 8.0 sen to RM10.26, CIMB slid 5.0 sen to RM7.95, and IHH Healthcare slid 9.0 sen to RM8.27.

On the most active list, Tanco gained 3.0 sen to RM1.14, D&O Green Technologies perked up 7.0 sen to 83.5 sen, Capital A erased 1.0 sen to 39 sen, V.S. Industry put on 1.5 sen to 46 sen, and Zetrix AI shed 2.0 sen to 81.5 sen.

Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries added RM1.24 to RM32.58, KESM industries gained 27 sen to RM3.13, Scicom (MSC) soared 26 sen to RM1.48, Ideal Capital increased 25 sen to RM3.65, and Chin Teck Plantations was 22 sen higher at RM11.02.   

Among the top losers, Nestle dipped RM3.60 to RM116.60, Fraser & Neave shaved RM1.24 to RM35.12, Petronas Dagangan fell 72 sen to RM19.94, Petronas Gas went down 22 sen to RM17.48, and Spritzer slipped 12 sen to RM2.92.    

On the index board, the FBM ACE Index improved 29.22 points to 4,810.09, and the FBM Mid 70 Index added 36.65 points to 16,762.65, while the FBM Emas Index fell 29.53 points to 12,001.76, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 31.74 points to 11,816.38, and the FBMT 100 Index decreased 36.20 points to 11,785.39.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index climbed 6.97 points to 8,098.07, the Financial Services Index eased 1.92 points to 19,109.06, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.08 of-a-point to 166.04, and the Energy Index slid 0.46 of-a-point to 749.95.

The Main Market volume declined to 1.32 billion units worth RM1.96 billion from 1.65 billion units worth RM2.94 billion on Tuesday.

Warrants turnover shrank to 1.60 billion units worth RM205.05 million against 1.89 billion units worth RM249.52 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume dwindled to 349.14 million units valued at RM124.85 million versus 384.24 million units valued at RM126.05 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 254.61 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (251.81 million), construction (77.23 million), technology (165.04 million), financial services (71.18 million), property (175.28 million), plantation (50.77 million), real estate investment trusts (18.47 million), closed-end fund (1,100), energy (81.87 million), healthcare (84.23 million), telecommunications and media (29.51 million), transportation and logistics (31.27 million), utilities (31.16 million), and business trusts (328,900).

Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia Bhd announced the change in the name of REX Industry Bhd to ETA Group Bhd and REX Industry Bhd - Warrants 2022/2027 to ETA Group Bhd – Warrants 2022/2027, effective from 9 am, Monday, Dec 8, 2025.

The company’s stock codes remain unchanged.

-- BERNAMA