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KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the first trading day of 2026 on a softer note as investors locked in profits after the recent rally amid subdued trading, despite encouraging performance on most regional markets.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said profit-taking in the local bourse is well anticipated and viewed as a healthy correction to digest the recent uptrend.
&#8220;As long as the benchmark index stays above the mid-1,650 range, market sentiment is likely to remain supportive, with investors willing to step in on dips,&#8221; he told Bernama.
Meanwhile IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Sedek Jantan believes that thin trading conditions may have limited market direction today.
&#8220;Trading activity was notably subdued, with total volume at just two billion shares, well below the normal daily average of around three billion &#8212; reflecting the continued absence of institutional and offshore investors as many remain on an extended New Year leave,&#8221; he said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 10.35 points, or 0.62%, to 1,669.76 from Wednesday’s close of 1,680.11.
The benchmark index opened 4.91 points lower at 1,675.20 &#8212; its intraday high &#8212; and slipped to its day low of 1,666.17 during the afternoon session.
The market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 592 to 447, while 502 counters were unchanged, 1,115 untraded and 18 suspended.
Turnover improved to 2.08 billion units worth RM1.8 billion from 1.89 billion units worth RM1.94 billion on Wednesday.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank dropped four sen to RM10.44, CIMB Group lost 15 sen to RM8.10, Public Bank fell five sen to RM4.49, Tenaga Nasional rose six sen to RM13.78, and IHH Healthcare slid 15 sen to RM8.60.
On the most active list, Tanco gained two sen to RM1.18, Zetrix was unchanged at 81 sen, Aquawalk and Insights Analytics gained three sen each to 39 sen and RM1.13 respectively, while Pharmaniaga eased 0.5 sen to 28 sen.
Among the top gainers, Nestle bagged 50 sen to RM114.50, Dutch Lady and QL Resources climbed 16 sen each to RM31.16 and RM3.95 respectively, Hong Leong Bank added 14 sen to RM22.28, and Malayan Cement put on 13 sen to RM7.79.
Of the top decliners, MPI erased RM1.04 to RM31.20, PPB tumbled 42 sen to RM10.64, F&amp;N shaved 30 sen to RM35.20, KL Kepong slipped 20 sen to RM19.80, and Hong Leong Industries dipped 18 sen to RM16.60.
On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index fell 47.23 points to 12,256.44, the FBM Top 100 Index declined 48.75 points to 12,058.66, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 29.79 points to 12,066.50.
The FBM Mid 70 Index garnered 49.08 points to 16,852.47 and the FBM ACE Index jumped 50.32 points to 4,923.27.
Sector-wise, the financial services index slipped 113.36 points to 19,589.99, the energy index slid 0.54 of-a-point to 766.77, the industrial products and services index eased 1.46 points to 172.16, and the plantation index dipped 53.80 points to 8,271.09.
The Main Market volume dwindled to 977.85 million units worth RM1.59 billion from 1.29 billion units worth RM1.81 billion on Wednesday.
Warrants turnover surged to 812.97 million units worth RM82.36 million versus 314.31 million units worth RM30.39 million previously.
The ACE Market volume expanded to 290.63 million units valued at RM127.81 million against 285.56 million units valued at RM93.67 million on Wednesday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 156.41 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (147.37 million), construction (87.08 million), technology (135.03 million), financial services (69.63 million), property (109.40 million), plantation (16.67 million), real estate investment trusts (22.89 million), closed-end fund (20,100), energy (95.86 million), healthcare (55.78 million), telecommunications and media (30.49 million), transportation and logistics (37.97 million), utilities (13.24 million), and business trusts (100).

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