Bursa Malaysia’s top gainers and losers shifted sharply throughout the week from Aug 3 to 7, with technology, plantation, consumer and construction counters taking turns to dominate the market’s daily movers as investors rotated between sectors.
The week began on a cautious note, with decliners outnumbering gainers on Monday before technology and selected industrial counters provided support on Tuesday. Broader market sentiment improved on Wednesday, only for brewing and consumer names to come under pressure on Thursday. Selling pressure returned on Friday as decliners once again edged ahead of advancers.
Aug 3
Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd led Bursa Malaysia’s decliners on Monday, falling 40 sen to RM27.50 on 104,400 shares traded, as losers outnumbered gainers 609 to 490.
Frontken Corp Bhd was the second-biggest loser, declining 19 sen to RM5.02 on 3.42 million shares.
Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd and Sunway Construction Group Bhd each shed 17 sen, closing at RM4.61, RM4.38 and RM7.75 respectively.
On the upside, Nestlé (M) Bhd topped the gainers, surging RM1.60 to RM102.70 on 197,600 shares. United Plantations Bhd climbed 48 sen to RM34.20, while Hong Leong Industries Bhd advanced 28 sen to RM18.
AMMB Holdings Bhd added 27 sen to RM7.03 on 13.28 million shares, while Lebtech Bhd rose 21 sen to 86 sen.
Market turnover eased to 2.73 billion shares worth RM2.33 billion, compared with 3.1 billion shares valued at RM3.57 billion on July 31.
Aug 4
Technology and selected industrial counters took the lead on Tuesday as Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd emerged as the day’s biggest gainer.
MPI rose 70 sen to RM46.72 on 445,300 shares traded, while Kelington Group Bhd advanced 52 sen to RM8.72 on heavy turnover of 3.7 million shares as semiconductor-related stocks continued to attract buying interest.
Fraser & Neave rebounded 32 sen to RM27.82, matching Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd’s 32-sen gain to RM21.32. Petronas Dagangan Bhd added 26 sen to RM19.70.
On the losing side, Nestlé led the decliners after falling 90 sen to RM101.80 as investors took profit following its recent gains.
Hong Leong Industries and United Plantations each slipped 16 sen to RM17.84 and RM34.04 respectively, while Gas Malaysia Bhd and Kim Loong Resources Bhd each lost 12 sen.
The session reflected continued rotation into technology and selected industrial counters, while defensive consumer and plantation names faced mild profit-taking.
Aug 5
Nestlé returned to the top of the gainers on Wednesday, rising 70 sen to RM102.50, while Pentamaster Corporation Bhd climbed 41 sen to RM5.70.
United Plantations gained 36 sen to RM34.40, followed by ViTrox Corporation Bhd with a 35-sen increase to RM9.10. YTL Power International Bhd also advanced 29 sen to RM4.40.
The biggest loser was Fraser & Neave, which fell 90 sen to RM26.92.
Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd slipped 18 sen to RM18.48, while Petronas Dagangan lost 16 sen to RM19.54. Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd and QL Resources Bhd each declined 13 sen to RM4.52 and RM4 respectively.
Market breadth improved significantly, with 690 advancers beating 487 decliners. Another 587 counters were unchanged, while 968 were untraded and 12 suspended.
Turnover surged to 3.89 billion units worth RM3.8 billion from 2.8 billion units valued at RM2.81 billion on Tuesday.
Aug 6
Brewing stocks dominated the losers on Thursday as market breadth turned narrowly negative, with 575 decliners against 567 advancers.
Heineken Malaysia Bhd was the biggest loser, plunging RM2 to RM17.10. Nestlé also fell RM1.20 to RM101.30, while Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd dropped 94 sen to RM14.94.
Hong Leong Industries declined 34 sen to RM17.68 and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd shed 32 sen to RM7.99.
On the upside, MPI continued its strong run, leading the gainers with a 72-sen increase to RM47.66. UWC Bhd added 31 sen to RM6.79, while IJM Corporation Bhd gained 17 sen to RM2.66 on strong trading volume.
Theta Edge Bhd advanced 16 sen to 71 sen and Ayer Holdings Bhd rose 15 sen to RM7.50.
Turnover eased to 3.24 billion shares worth RM2.9 billion from 3.89 billion shares valued at RM3.80 billion on Wednesday.
Aug 7
Selling pressure returned on Friday, with 581 decliners edging out 533 advancers as MPI reversed some of its recent gains to become the day’s biggest loser.
MPI fell 40 sen to RM47.26, while Petronas Dagangan and United Plantations each declined 32 sen to RM19.24 and RM33.88 respectively.
Pentamaster and UWC were also among the major decliners, each losing 24 sen to RM5.47 and RM6.55. Pentamaster saw particularly heavy activity, with 24.26 million shares changing hands.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd topped the gainers, surging RM1.30 to RM22.90. Stratus Global Holdings Bhd rose 58 sen to RM2.88, while Tong Herr Resources Bhd added 49 sen to RM2.39.
Allianz Malaysia Bhd gained 44 sen to RM21.52, while YTL Power International advanced 32 sen to RM4.69 on strong trading interest.
Market turnover increased to 3.55 billion units worth RM3.47 billion from 3.24 billion units valued at RM2.9 billion on Thursday, pointing to heavier trading activity despite the softer market breadth.
A Week Of Rotation
The week’s movers showed how quickly investor attention shifted between sectors. MPI was among the strongest performers early in the week and continued its momentum through Thursday before becoming Friday’s biggest decliner. Nestlé similarly moved from Monday’s top gainer to Tuesday’s biggest loser before recovering on Wednesday and falling again on Thursday.
Plantation counters also featured prominently, with United Plantations appearing among both the week’s gainers and losers, while Kuala Lumpur Kepong ended Friday with the week’s biggest daily gain.
