Bursa Malaysia ends lower as FBM KLCI drops 15.84 points ahead of Merdeka Day break
Bursa Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 15.84 points to 1,725.88 by 5 pm on Friday as broad-based selling intensified ahead of the three-day Merdeka Day public holiday weekend.
Source: Malaysia-China Insight · Bernama · BernamaBiz · bernama · August 29, 2026 at 4:01 PM · AI-assisted report
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KUALA LUMPUR, 30 AUGUST 2026 —
Bursa Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 15.84 points to 1,725.88 by 5 pm on Friday as broad-based selling intensified ahead of the three-day Merdeka Day public holiday weekend.
Market Impact
Turnover jumped to 5.06 billion units, worth RM6.51 billion, from Thursday’s 3.85 billion units valued at RM3.46 billion. The benchmark opened 1.98 points higher at 1,743.70, then swung between 1,715.91 and 1,745.06 before closing near the day’s lows.
Losers led gainers 917 to 405 on the day, with 461 counters unchanged, 1,070 untraded and 98 suspended.
Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, said sentiment stayed cautious after the broad sell-off. “Decliners outnumbered gainers by more than two to one,” he told Bernama. “Market participation remained healthy, with about 5 billion shares worth RM6.5 billion changing hands.”
He added that the strong turnover despite weak breadth pointed to active buying of larger-cap and higher-priced stocks. “With valuations becoming more attractive following the recent weakness, we believe selective bargain hunting could provide support when trading resumes next week.”
Heavyweights ended mixed. Maybank added six sen to RM10.68, while IHH Healthcare gained 10 sen to RM8.25. Public Bank fell five sen to RM4.95, CIMB Group eased 11 sen to RM7.96 and Tenaga Nasional lost 16 sen to RM14.14.
Among the most active stocks, Zetrix AI slipped 30 sen to 29.5 sen, Tanco dropped two sen to 18.5 sen and JAKS Resources was flat at 12.5 sen. Inari Amertron rose six sen to RM2.56, while Oppstar edged down 4.5 sen to 77 sen.
Top gainers included United Plantations, which surged 66 sen to RM31.94, Spritzer, up 33 sen to RM3.55, and MBM Resources, which improved 26 sen to RM5.30.
The heaviest losses were led by Nestlé, which fell RM2.90 to RM100.10, and Malaysian Pacific Industries, which shed RM1.26 to RM41.56. MISC dropped 56 sen to RM7.92, while LPI Capital and Fraser & Neave each fell 42 sen to RM13.48 and RM25.48.
Sector moves reflected the broad decline. The FBM Mid 70 Index lost 228.27 points to 18,084.89, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 144.83 points to 12,552.09 and the FBM Emas Index slipped 127.48 points to 12,764.63. The FBM Top 100 Index dropped 126.41 points to 12,574.85 and the FBM ACE Index declined 102.84 points to 5,249.38.
The Plantation Index fell 33.55 points to 9,309.66, the Financial Services Index lost 129.81 points to 20,243.47, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.11 point to 189.27 and the Energy Index fell 6.68 points to 778.38.
On the Main Market, volume grew to 3.39 billion units valued at RM6.11 billion from Thursday’s 2.13 billion units worth RM3.11 billion. Warrant turnover eased to 991.46 million units worth RM152.07 million from 1.20 billion units worth RM156.70 million. The ACE Market saw volume rise to 681.03 million units valued at RM245.54 million from 516.25 million units worth RM198.44 million.
Trading by sector showed technology stocks led activity with 1.43 billion shares, followed by industrial products and services with 419.16 million shares and consumer products and services with 345.38 million shares. Construction (219.04 million), financial services (238.55 million) and property (252.78 million) also featured prominently.
Related: Maybank · Thong Pak Leng · Kuala Lumpur