KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed broadly lower on Thursday, with more than 800 stocks ending in the red as hotter-than-expected US inflation fuelled concerns over further Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, triggering a sell-off across regional markets.
The FBM KLCI closed 4.02 points, or 0.25%, lower at 1,623.70 on Thursday. The index traded within an 8.47-point range, between 1,617.14 and 1,625.61.
In the broader market, decliners outpaced advancers, with 852 stocks closing lower versus 294 gainers, resulting in a market breadth ratio of 0.35 and signalling widespread selling pressure.
Turnover stood at 3.06 billion shares worth RM3.03bil.
Dealers said stronger-than-expected US inflation intensified selling pressure amid concerns that the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates elevated for longer or raise them further.
They added that weakness across regional markets further dampened investor sentiment, prompting broad-based selling on Bursa Malaysia, particularly in technology stocks.
Among the decliners, Malaysian Pacific Industries
fell RM1.60 to RM40.40, Allianz-PA shed 68 sen to RM20.20, UMS Integration dropped 66 sen to RM7.67, UWC declined 55 sen to RM7.18 and MI Technovation lost 32 sen to RM6.38.
In contrast, Heineken Malaysia rose 64 sen to RM13.64, Carlsberg gained 46 sen to RM12.48, Nestle added 38 sen to RM90.50, Petronas Gas advanced 32 sen to RM17.60 and Batu Kawan climbed 20 sen to RM19.40.
In terms of fund flows, foreign investors and retail investors were net sellers on Wednesday, offloading RM85mil and RM1mil worth of equities, respectively.
Local institutions, meanwhile, emerged as net buyers, with net purchases totalling RM104mil.
Meanwhile, Brent crude oil fell US$2.08, or 1.96% to US$103.98 a barrel while US crude oil eased 21 cents, or 0.22%, to US$94.88 per barrel.
Across the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index slipped 3.5%, with most regional bourses ending in the red and several hitting fresh lows.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged 4.9% to close at 64,425.95, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.03% to 24,062.72.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index also ended lower, shedding 0.49% to 5,396.80.
South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 7.6% to 5,554.22, its lowest level since early April, marking its seventh consecutive session of losses.
In China, the blue-chip CSI300 index dropped 1.23% to 4,166.01, while the Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.59% to 3,707.48. Both Chinese benchmarks recorded their lowest closing levels since August 2025.
