KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia plunged into negative territory again on Wednesday, with almost 1,000 counters closing in the red as investors continued to offload shares amidst weak market sentiment.
The FBM KLCI slid 14.34 points, or 0.91%, to 1,562.12, its lowest level since August 2024. All indices ended lower, with the construction sector hit the hardest, falling 4.8%.
Losers far outpaced gainers, with a stark 964 to 193 split, while 413 counters held steady, reflecting the negative sentiment in the market. The volume was 3.4 billion shares, which was valued at RM3.08bil.
Among the KLCI constituents, PETRONAS Dagangan tumbled 70 sen to RM18.82, Tenaga Nasional slid 32 sen to RM13.50 and Gamuda lost 27 sen to RM4.45.
On the broader market, Malaysian Pacific Industries
fell 66 sen to RM22.56, F&N lost 60 sen to RM26.20, Sunmow tumbled 49 sen to RM1.35 and Allianz declined 46 sen to RM19.90.
Among the gainers, Perstima rose 15 sen to RM2.35, Bintulu Port added 14 sen to RM6.15 and Negri Sembilan Oil Palms climbed 10 sen to RM3.98.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.5030, up 0.08% against the US dollar.
The local currency fell 0.29% against the euro to 4.6370, dropped 0.13% against the pound sterling to 5.4968, and rose 0.02% against the Singapore dollar to 3.2918.
On the external front, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan stock index dipped by 0.13%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.07% lower at 38,444.58, while South Korea’s Kospi edged down 0.02% to 2,496.81.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.34% to 19,286.07, while China’s CSI300 index declined 0.64% to 3,796.03, and the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.43% to 3,227.12.
