Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, said Wall Street fell as investors moved away from financial stocks, particularly private credit shares, amid concerns over losses in the private loans segment.
“On the domestic front, the FBM KLCI appeared supported by continuous stock accumulation from foreign funds.
“While a Chinese New Year rally may be unlikely, the persistent inflow of funds could eventually spark interest in small- and mid-cap stocks. Today, we expect the benchmark index to hover between 1,750 and 1,760,” he told Bernama.
At 9.10 am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.80 of-a-point, or 0.05 per cent, to 1,751.31 from Thursday’s close of 1,752.11.
The benchmark had opened 0.68 of-a-point higher at 1,752.79.
Market breadth was negative, with losers outnumbering gainers 138 to 110. A total of 276 counters were unchanged, 2,234 untraded and 24 suspended.
Turnover stood at 93.35 million shares valued at RM59.18 million.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose two sen to RM12.08, while Public Bank and CIMB fell one sen each to RM5.05 and RM8.46. Tenaga Nasional lost four sen to RM14.22 and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM8.91.
On the most active list, NexG added 1.5 sen to 30.5 sen, Astro Malaysia gained half-a-sen to 80 sen, MAG and Borneo Oil were unchanged at 18 sen and one sen, respectively, and Tanco advanced one sen to RM1.45.
Top gainers included Panasonic Manufacturing, up 12 sen to RM7.72, Malaysian Pacific Industries, up 10 sen to RM30.88, Sarawak Plantation, up nine sen to RM3.58, Teck Guan Perdana, up seven sen to RM2.11, and 99 Speed Mart, up six sen to RM3.56.
Leading decliners were United Plantations, down 12 sen to RM29.84, Allianz Malaysia, down eight sen to RM22.58, Malayan Cement and Vitrox, each down six sen to RM8.54 and RM4.24, and Press Metal Aluminium, down five sen to RM7.63.
On the index board, the FBM Top 100 Index fell 7.05 points to 12,671.42, the FBM Emas Index dropped 7.92 points to 12,852.55, the FBM Mid 70 Index slid 15.86 points to 17,815.94, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 10.92 points to 12,392.87, and the FBM ACE Index eased 7.49 points to 4,821.02.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index edged up 3.90 points to 21,569.0, the Plantation Index rose 0.52 of-a-point to 8,402.83, while the Energy Index slipped 0.18 of-a-point to 773.93 and the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 0.61 points to 177.89.