Bursa Malaysia drops as traders stay cautious before Fed rate call and oil surge

— Bursa Malaysia ended lower today in subdued trading as sentiment continued to remain cautious ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) interest rate decision tomorrow and soaring oil prices. — Picture by Raymond Manuel

First Published: Tuesday, 15 Sep 2026 6:45 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — Bursa Malaysia ended lower today in subdued trading as sentiment continued to remain cautious ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) interest rate decision tomorrow and soaring oil prices.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 18.80 points to close 1.11 per cent lower at 1,679.21 points from Monday’s close of 1,698.01.

The benchmark index opened 3.10 points lower at 1,694.91, moved between 1,678.06 and 1,694.91 throughout the trading session.

Market breadth was subdued with losers beating gainers 780 to 355. A total of 551 counters were unchanged, 1,157 untraded and 13 suspended.

Turnover firmed to 3.34 billion units worth RM3.25 billion, from 3.18 billion units valued at RM2.79 billion on Monday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the market tracked weaker regional and global markets as investors also remained cautious towards artificial intelligence-related stocks amid an uncertain external environment.

On the domestic front, the focus was on energy related stocks.

From a technical perspective, Thong said the benchmark index is approaching oversold territory.

"While selling pressure could persist in the near term, the increasingly stretched technical condition could encourage bargain hunting, particularly in selected blue chips where valuations and dividend yields have become more attractive following the recent decline.

"With external uncertainties likely to keep investors defensive, we expect the FBM KLCI to remain in consolidation mode in the near term,” he told Bernama.

"As such, we expect the benchmark index to trend within the 1,670-1,700 range for the rest of the week,” he added.

Head of research at Berjaya Research Sdn Bhd Kenneth Leong told Bernama that technically, the local bourse has gapped down and formed a bearish candlestick to drift further from the 1,700 psychological level.

"The immediate resistances are now shifted to 1,700 points, to be followed by 1,714 points. Meanwhile the supports are located at 1,676 points and 1,670 points,” he added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank slipped four sen to RM10.42, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare shed five sen each to RM4.80 and RM7.71, CIMB rose three sen to RM7.80, and Tenaga Nasional shed 32 sen to RM13.32.

Among top active counters, Zetrix AI was one sen higher at 25.5 sen, ACE Market debutante Butterfield and Top Glove slid two sen each to 46 sen and 81 sen, Ni Hsin added 2.5 sen to 31.5 sen, and MQ Technology increased half a sen to six sen.

Among the top gainers, United Plantations gained 50 sen to RM33.60, MISC added 14 sen to RM7.95, Yinson jumped 13 sen to RM2.13, Panasonic Manufacturing Asia and Gas Malaysia both firmed 12 sen to RM5.89 and RM5.05 respectively.

Of the top losers, Nestle weakened RM1.12 to RM90.18, Malaysian Pacific Industries was 30 sen lower at RM39.70, Eurospan contracted 25 sen to RM3.00, Press Metal Aluminium declined 24 sen to RM7.52 and Petronas Gas gave up 20 sen to RM17.20.

On the index board, the FBM Mid 70 Index inched down 74.44 points to 17,615.65 and the FBM ACE Index weakened 45.68 points to 5,169.95.

The FBM Emas Index slid 115.98 points to 12,443.93, the FBM Top 100 Index erased 115.54 points to 12,244.80 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 110.35 points to 12,302.42.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 2.80 points to 186.40 and the Financial Services Index slid 144.17 points to 19,647.40, the Plantation Index shed 10.09 points to 9,526.20 while the Energy Index gained 6.46 points to 821.38.

The Main Market’s volume strengthened to 1.86 billion units valued at RM2.93 billion, down from 1.84 billion units worth RM2.50 billion on Monday.

Warrant turnover jumped to 914.50 million units worth RM131.79 million compared with 909.17 million units valued at RM125.97 million yesterday.

The ACE Market’s volume rose to 564.82 million units valued at RM196.93 million from 429.68 million units worth RM164.42 million previously.

Meanwhile, Consumer products and services counters accounted for 288.20 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (242.63 million), construction (134.43 million), technology (579.26 million), financial services (78.03 million), property (99.75 million), plantation (69.20 million), real estate investment trusts (21.57 million), closed-end fund (29,300), energy (87.24 million), healthcare (142.77 million), telecommunications and media (26.43 million), transportation and logistics (38.20 million), utilities (51.35 million), and business trusts (627,800).

The local bourse will be closed tomorrow for the Malaysia Day public holiday and will resume trading on Thursday. — Bernama