The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLCI) opened firmer but turned lower later in the day, despite strong overnight performance from Wall Street. Traders locked in profits and turned cautious ahead of Malaysia's first-quarter 2026 gross domestic product (GDP) announcement.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened firmer on Friday but turned lower thereafter, despite Wall Street ’s strong overnight performance, as investors locked in profits and turned cautious ahead of Malaysia’s first-quarter 2026 gross domestic product announcement later in the day.
At 9.10am, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped 0.15 of-a-point to 1,745.43 from Thursday’s close of 1,745.58. The benchmark index had opened 2.11 points higher at 1,747.69. On the broader market, gainers narrowly outpaced losers 195 to 190, while 342 counters were unchanged, 2,011 untraded and 47 suspended. Turnover stood at 266.94 million shares worth RM16.72 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street had a strong session overnight, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 hitting fresh highs, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 50,000 mark, supported by solid corporate earnings and a productive meeting between US president Donald Trump and Chinese oresident Xi Jinping. He added that traders had largely stayed on the sidelines, with market attention focused on developments from the Trump-Xi meeting in the coming days.
“Whilst trading activities have eased somewhat, we believe interest in smaller-cap stocks may be gaining traction. Hence, for today, we expect the index to trade within the 1,740-1,760 range,” he noted. Among heavyweight stocks, Maybank was unchanged at RM11.18, Public Bank gained six sen to RM4.89, CIMB rose three sen to RM7.93, Tenaga Nasional added 16 sen to RM14.64, while IHH Healthcare fell five sen to RM8.97.
Among active stocks, AirAsia slipped three sen to RM1.19, Nationgate gained two sen to 89 sen, Genetec rose 3.5 sen to 36.5 sen, while EG Industries eased two sen to RM1.47. HHRG was unchanged at eight sen. Top gainers included Malaysian Pacific, which surged RM1.26 to RM45.50, UMS Integration, up 61 sen to RM9.59, Fraser & Neave, which added 30 sen to RM29.00, and MKH, which climbed 18 sen to RM1.31.
Among top losers, Nestle fell RM1.10 to RM101.30, Petronas Dagangan lost 64 sen to RM20.74, Gas Malaysia declined 14 sen to RM5.30, while Kelington and SD Guthrie dropped 13 sen each to RM7.17 and RM5.85, respectively. On the index board, the FBM Emas Index edged down 0.69 of-a-point to 12,932.19, the FBM Top 100 Index shed 1.92 points to 12,766.22, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 25.59 points to 12,870.09, the FBM Mid 70 Index declined 6.67 points to 18,530.44, and the FBM ACE Index eased 5.61 points to 4,777.46.
By sector, the Financial Services Index rose 67.26 points to 20,318.32, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.16 of-a-point to 201.10, the Energy Index lost 3.24 points to 796.54, and the Plantation Index fell 59.72 points to 8,612.11.
Bursa Malaysia KLCI Wall Street GDP Announcement Traders Smaller-Cap Stocks Maybank Public Bank CIMB Tenaga Nasional Airasia Nationgate Genetec EG Industries HHRG Malaysian Pacific UMS Integration Fraser & Neave MKH
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