KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia ended its four-day rally, tracking Wall Street’s Friday sell-off, as investors brace for key US economic data and remain concerned over President Donald Trump’s tariff policy.
At 9.05 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 6.43 points to 1,584.48 compared with Friday’s close of 1,590.91.
The benchmark index opened 3.26 points lower at 1,587.65.
Losers outpaced gainers 213 to 118, with 279 counters unchanged, 1,720 untraded and 22 suspended.
Turnover totalled 216.43 million units worth RM87.79 million.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that sentiment in the US has become more cautious as inflationary pressures persist.
This is evident from the slowing job growth, despite a declining unemployment rate and stronger wage growth.
Also, Trump is reportedly considering 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports.
“This week, traders will closely monitor key upcoming data, including core Producer Price and Consumer Price Indexes as well as retail sales.
On the local front, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expects the FBM KLCI index to hover within the 1,585-1,595 range.
“We believe foreign funds may have returned as the index was able to climb to 1,590 last week.
“Though the daily trading volume remains subdued, we are hopeful that this will improve as foreign money trickles back,” he noted.
With the crude palm oil price surging above RM4,500 per tonne, the plantation sector could be in the limelight, he added.
Among the heavyweights, CIMB lost 10 sen to RM8.29, YTL Power and Tenaga Nasional dropped eight sen each to RM3.36 sen and RM13.66, Gamuda decreased 11 sen to RM4.45 and YTL was three sen lower at RM1.99.
Newly listed Colform Group topped the most active stocks, rising two sen to 38 sen, followed by TWL Holdings and Datasonic, which were flat at 2.5 sen and 40 sen respectively, while Harvest Miracle Capital bagged one sen to 18 sen and Asia Poly was half-a-sen higher at 13 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 38.17 points to 12,111.36, the FBMT 100 Index slid 41.88 points to 11,798.18 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 32.12 points lower to 11,953.52.
The FBM ACE Index dropped 2.02 points to 5,258.33 and the FBM 70 Index shaved 40.49 points to 17,993.04.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index decreased by 60.07 points to 19,173.37 and the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 0.27 of-a-point to 166.24.
The Plantation Index, however, rose 8.04 points to 7,461.94 and the Energy Index improved 0.19 of-a-point to 826.63. – February 10, 2025