Bursa Malaysia Ends Flat On Renewed Global Bond Yields, Geopolitical Concerns

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended little changed on Friday, as investors remained cautious amid renewed pressure on global bond yields and geopolitical tensions, an analyst said.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.23 points to 1,736.48 compared with Thursday’s close of 1,736.71.

The benchmark index opened 0.63 of a point lower at 1,736.08, and fluctuated between 1,733.13 and 1,738.30 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 637 to 578, while 571 counters were unchanged, 1,086 untraded and 47 suspended.

Turnover decreased to 3.91 billion units valued at RM3.32 billion from 4.28 billion units valued at RM4.01 billion on Thursday.  

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said stocks with stronger exposure to domestic demand remained relatively attractive as investors sought to reduce exposure to external risks.

Besides that, he said global markets are now looking towards the Jackson Hole symposium from Aug 27-29, 2026, particularly US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Kevin Warsh’s keynote address on Aug 28, 2026.

The symposium is expected to cover developments such as stablecoins and the future of financial infrastructure, with investors likely to focus primarily on any signals regarding the Fed’s interest rate path.

“For Bursa Malaysia, the tone of the US monetary policy will remain important for global risk appetite, bond yields and foreign fund flows, although the local market’s relatively defensive composition and domestic demand exposure could provide some resilience,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained two sen to RM10.60, Public Bank and CIMB Group were three sen lower each at RM5.09, and RM7.95, respectively, Tenaga Nasional lost 10 sen to RM14.40, and IHH Healthcare slid six sen to RM8.28.

On the most active list, NexG edged down one sen to 32 sen, Zetrix AI was flat at 65 sen, AirAsia fell 7.5 sen to 81 sen, JCY International slipped 1.5 sen to 51.5 sen, while YTL Corporation climbed six sen to RM2.49.

The top gainers were led by PPB Group, which rose 38 sen to RM10.28, Fraser & Neave Holdings increased 30 sen to RM26.50, Sarawak Oil Palms jumped 29 sen to RM5.56, United Plantations improved 28 sen to RM32.16, and YTL Power International put on 24 sen to RM5.40.

Among the top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries dipped RM2.10 to RM43.20, Nestle dropped RM1.00 to RM103.80, Kelington Group sank 39 sen to RM8.61, Telekom Malaysia shrank 33 sen to RM7.77, and Sunway Construction Group erased 25 sen to RM7.90.

On the index board, the FBM ACE Index rose 5.03 points to 5,333.79, the FBM 70 Index fell 23.07 points to 18,151.04, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 16.78 points to 12,641.79.

 The FBM Emas Index weakened 5.34 points to 12,823.28 and the FBM Top 100 Index gave up 5.30 points to 12,650.92.

By sector, the Plantation Index soared 112.22 points to 9,440.65, the Energy Index improved 1.89 points to 777.03, while the Financial Services Index lost 10.08 points to 20,265.40, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.33 of a point to 187.22.

The Main Market volume shrank to 2.00 billion units valued at RM2.91 billion compared with 2.32 billion units valued at RM3.56 billion on Thursday. 

Warrants turnover increased to 1.32 billion units worth RM165.20 million versus 1.25 billion units worth RM159.83 million previously.

The ACE Market volume slipped to 578.51 million units valued at RM241.31 million from 691.33 million units valued at RM281.98 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 389.13 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (300.79 million), construction (128.17 million), technology (553.48 million), financial services (49.90 million), property (136.60 million), plantation (62.72 million), real estate investment trusts (19.37 million), closed-end fund (170,500), energy (89.78 million), healthcare (71.71 million), telecommunications and media (33.60 million), transportation and logistics (51.16 million), utilities (119.85 million), and business trusts (27,700).

-- BERNAMA