Bursa Malaysia benchmark falls 0.51 per cent in early trading
Declining stocks outnumbered gainers 430 to 64, with turnover of 216.60 million units valued at RM98.99 million.
Malaysia’s benchmark share index fell to 1,607.36 by 9.10am on November 2, losing 8.24 points, or 0.51 per cent, after Wall Street’s sharp decline. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI had ended the previous Friday at 1,615.60.
The index began trading at 1,613.21, down 2.39 points. Market breadth was negative: 430 counters declined and 64 advanced. Another 259 were unchanged, while 1,970 remained untraded and 11 were suspended. Trading volume reached 216.60 million units, with a value of RM98.99 million.
Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, attributed Wall Street’s losses to disappointing earnings from Intel and Amazon, which heightened concerns about spending requirements for artificial intelligence. He told Bernama that selective buying of banking, plantation and defensive shares could support the benchmark within a 1,610-1,620 range.
Among heavyweight shares, Maybank dropped two sen to RM10 and CIMB lost seven sen to RM6.84. Tenaga Nasional declined 10 sen to RM13.20, while IHH Healthcare fell by the same amount to RM7.75. Public Bank moved in the opposite direction, rising two sen to RM4.77.
Nestle was among the largest decliners, shedding 70 sen to RM95.24, while MPI fell 58 sen to RM39.20. Manulife Holdings led the gainers with an 11-sen increase to RM2.39. All four reported sector indices—industrial products and services, energy, financial services and plantation—also declined.
