Tariff chatter spooks market, Bursa falls below 1,530 at midday
At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 7.59 points to 1,529.95 from Monday's close of 1,537.54.
The benchmark index had opened 7.85 points lower at 1,529.69.
The broader market was negative, with 533 decliners trouncing 305 gainers, while 410 counters were unchanged, 1,157 untraded and nine suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.01 billion units worth RM1.09 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng expects the local benchmark index's volatility to heighten in the run-up to the July 9 tariff expiry.
'The FBM KLCI dipped by almost 13 points following a decent performance over the past week, as we anticipate foreign funds have again turned sellers, illustrating their extreme short-term behaviour.
'For today, we expect the index to hover between the 1,530-1,545 range,' he said.
Meanwhile, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd said the benchmark index may continue its downward consolidation from the recent May 15 peak of 1,589 points, following the US 25 per cent tariff imposition on Malaysia.
'Selling pressure could intensify amid a potential reversal in foreign flows after two weeks of net inflows totalling RM335 million,' it said in a note today.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell three sen to RM9.69, CIMB went down 10 sen to RM6.65, and IHH Healthcare was three sen lower at RM6.69.
Tenaga Nasional gained six sen to RM13.86, while Public Bank was flat at RM4.33.
As for the most active stocks, NexG and Top Glove added one sen each to 43 sen and 70 sen, respectively, Supermax rose six sen to 65 sen, while Tanco slid half-a-sen to 89 sen, and Zetrix AI remained unchanged at 95 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 47.87 points to 11,470.79, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 50.90 points to 11,242.33, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 64.06 points to 11,436.67.
The FBM 70 Index declined 53.53 points to 16,569.92, while the FBM ACE Index shed 11.10 points to 4,462.52.
By sector, the Financial Services Index decreased 86.66 points to 17,635.30, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 1.71 points to 153.70, the Energy Index eased 3.39 points to 734.20, and the Plantation Index trimmed 28.15 points to 7,416.86. — Bernama
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