Market Opening and Performance
Kuala Lumpur: Bursa Malaysia started the day on a downward note on Friday, following a negative trend in Wall Street from the previous night. At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped by 5.28 points to 1,608.92, compared to Thursday's closing of 1,614.20. The index had opened 4.31 points lower at 1,609.89.
The market showed a slightly negative tone, with 197 stocks declining against 112 that rose. Additionally, 263 stocks remained unchanged, 2,097 were not traded, and 60 were suspended. The trading volume reached 147.02 million shares valued at RM63.60 million.
Factors Influencing the Market
Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, pointed out that the decline was due to disappointing corporate earnings in the United States. He noted that the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.23% to 47,522.12, the S&P 500 dropped nearly one percent to 6,822.34, while the Nasdaq declined by 1.57% to 23,581.14.
Despite the downturn, he mentioned that investor sentiment was supported by the recent US-China trade deal and expectations of a more accommodative stance from the US Federal Reserve. Thong anticipated buying interest on attractive valuations and stronger turnover, suggesting that the benchmark index might remain within the range of 1,610 to 1,620 for the day.
Key Stock Movements
Among the major players, Maybank and Public Bank each fell by one sen to RM9.88 and RM4.21, respectively. CIMB Group, on the other hand, increased by four sen to RM7.35. Tenaga Nasional decreased by four sen to RM13.28, while IHH Healthcare gained three sen to RM8.23.
On the most active list, Perak Transit and Revenue Group saw a half-sen drop to 36 sen and 7.5 sen, respectively. TWL Holdings and NEXG Bina remained unchanged at 2.5 sen and five sen. Omesti slipped by 1.5 sen to 6.5 sen.
Top Gainers and Losers
The top gainers included Malaysian Pacific, which surged by 22 sen to RM30.48; See Hup Consolidated climbed six sen to 79 sen; and Sarawak Oil Palms and KSL Holdings both advanced by four sen each to RM3.56 and RM3.02. AirAsia X added three sen to RM1.84.
Conversely, the top losers were MISC, which fell by 43 sen to RM7.40; Chin Teck Plantations dropped 36 sen to RM11.38; Bursa Malaysia eased 14 sen to RM8.18; Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 12 sen to RM20.76; and Petronas Dagangan dipped 10 sen to RM22.58.
Index Performance
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 35.42 points to 12,015.88, the FBMT 100 Index declined 35.23 points to 11,757.23, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 48.82 points to 12,076.31. The FBM 70 Index shed 36.41 points to 17,040.73, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 8.04 points to 5,221.80.
Sector Performance
By sector, the Financial Services Index eased 10.02 points to 18,183.23, the Plantation Index declined 27.72 points to 7,992.45, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.19 of a point to 171.31, and the Energy Index eased 0.44 of a point to 767.99.