KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia sank deeper into the red at Friday's lunch break amid cautious sentiment, despite stronger-than-expected third-quarter economic growth.

The FBM KLCI fell 10.75 points, or 0.66%, to 1,612.95 at the midday break, after trading between 1,611.74 and 1,626.34 in the morning session.

Market breadth was positive, with 520 gainers outpacing 413 losers, while 440 counters were unchanged. Market turnover stood at 1.907 billion shares worth RM1.44bil.

Malaysia's economy expanded by 5.3% in the third quarter of 2026 (3Q26), moderating from 6% in the preceding quarter, according to advance estimates released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Despite the moderation, the growth reading exceeded market expectations, pointing to continued resilience in domestic economic activity amid persistent external uncertainties.

Ahead of the GDP release, TA Securities expects local market sentiment to remain cautious ahead of the weekend as investors await Malaysia’s advance estimate of third-quarter GDP growth for fresh domestic cues amid persistent external uncertainties.

The research house pegged immediate support for the index at 1,564 points, based on the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level, followed by stronger support at 1,527 and 1,490 points.

Meanwhile, immediate resistance is seen at the October 2025 high of 1,659 points, with further upside hurdles at the psychological 1,700-point level and 1,759 points.

Meanwhile, Apex Securities said market sentiment could recover somewhat following Wall Street’s overnight rebound, although continued rotation out of US artificial intelligence (AI)-related technology stocks could weigh on global risk appetite.

Furthermore, Thursday’s sharply negative local market breadth also indicates that underlying risk appetite remains fragile despite relative resilience in the benchmark index.

“We therefore expect large-cap defensive names to provide support to the KLCI, while broader-market participation may remain subdued heading into the weekend.

“Overall, we expect the KLCI to remain range-bound, with investors likely to favor selective domestic and defensive exposures following subdued risk appetite,” Apex said.

Among the top losers, Nestle fell 84 sen to RM89.66, Press Metal

declined 51 sen to RM6.66, Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed 42 sen to RM20.68, Heineken Malaysia

dropped 40 sen to RM13.24 and Petronas Gas slipped 26 sen to RM17.34.

Technology and semiconductor stocks were among the top gainers, led by ViTrox, which rose 38 sen to RM10.70, and Malaysian Pacific Industries

, which gained 22 sen to RM40.62.

Pentamaster advanced 20 sen to RM5.60, while KESM added 19 sen to RM4.70 and UWC climbed 15 sen to RM7.33.

Newly listed EGH International was the second most actively traded counter on Bursa Malaysia, with 62.97 million shares changing hands. The stock fell two sen, or 12.5%, to 14 sen, below its IPO price of 16 sen.