Bursa Malaysia Takes a Breather Amid Positive GDP Data and Regional Market Sentiment

Bursa Malaysia took a breather on Friday, despite positive sentiment following Malaysia's Q2 2025 GDP data, which expanded 4.4% YoY. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI eased 4.71 points or 0.30% to close at 1,576.34. Banking stocks led gains, while commodity-linked and export-oriented counters remained weak. Externally, investors are focusing on Trump's meeting with Putin and US retail sales data.

KUALA LUMPUR - Bursa Malaysia took a breather on Friday, mirroring the subdued performance of regional markets, despite positive sentiment following the release of Malaysia's second quarter 2025 (Q2 2025) gross domestic product (GDP) data. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 4.71 points, or 0.30%, to close at 1,576.34 from yesterday’s close of 1,581.05. The benchmark index opened 0.70 of-a-point firmer at 1,581.75, and moved between 1,571.19 and 1,581.79 throughout the day [1].

Market sentiment remained steady following the release of Malaysia’s Q2 2025 GDP data, which expanded 4.4% year-on-year, aligning with the company’s forecast range of 4.30% to 4.50% and only marginally below the advance estimate of 4.5% [1]. UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan noted that the outcome defied earlier expectations that April’s reciprocal tariffs, announced by US President Donald Trump, coupled with prolonged US trade policy uncertainty, would prompt a more pronounced slowdown as businesses adopted a wait-and-see stance. With policy direction from Washington now clearer, he believes the worst of the trade-related drag has passed, allowing growth to remain supported in the near term [1].

In today’s session, banking stocks led gains among the FBM KLCI constituents. The sector is often viewed as a proxy for economic momentum, and with GDP data broadly meeting market expectations, investors rotated into financials on the belief that a resilient macro backdrop will support sustained credit demand and earnings visibility [1]. This sectoral strength helped offset weakness in selected commodity-linked and export-oriented counters, which remain sensitive to shifts in global trade sentiment [1].

Externally, investors are focusing on Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska later today, coinciding with the release of US retail sales data [1]. While headline risk from the geopolitical front may generate intraday volatility in late US trading, market beta is more likely to respond decisively at Monday’s opening [1].

The broader market was negative, with decliners leading advancers 488 to 449, while 497 counters were unchanged, 1,138 untraded, and seven suspended. Turnover declined to 2.01 billion units worth RM2.03 billion from 2.40 billion units worth RM2.66 billion yesterday [1]. Among the heavyweights, CIMB added 5.0 sen to RM7.25, Maybank eased 4.0 sen to RM9.80, Tenaga Nasional went down 6.0 sen to RM13.62, IHH Healthcare declined 8.0 sen to RM6.82, while Public Bank was flat at RM4.45 [1].

Across the broader market, the FBM Emas Index fell 29.86 points to 11,731.06, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 30.86 points to 11,512.86, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slumped 53.60 points to 11,654.85, the FBM 70 Index sank 29.25 points to 16,660.68, while the FBM ACE Index jumped 46.91 points to 4,713.45 [1].

By sector, the Financial Services Index increased 29.54 points to 18,080.07, the plantation index slipped 77.62 points to 7,504.03, the industrial products and services index eased 1.22 points to 157.72, while the energy index perked up 1.34 points to 740.83 [1].

References

[1] https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2025/08/15/bursa-takes-a-breather-despite-positive-q2-gdp-data
[2] https://tradingeconomics.com/malaysia/current-account
[3] https://www.malaymail.com/news/money/2025/08/15/bursa-malaysia-slips-despite-solid-q2-gdp-tracking-asias-softer-mood/187781