KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended sharply lower on Friday, with the FBM KLCI falling nearly 1% even as Malaysia's third-quarter economic growth of 5.3% exceeded market expectations.

The benchmark index shed 15.94 points, or 0.98%, to close at 1,607.76. It traded within a 23.36-point range, between an intraday high of 1,626.34 and a low of 1,602.98.

For the week, the index declined 10.25 points, or 0.63%, from 1,618.01 last Friday.

Market turnover stood at 3.13 billion shares worth RM3.27bil, with 597 gainers, 472 losers and 517 counters unchanged.

Earlier, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) reported that Malaysia's economic growth moderated to 5.3% in the third quarter of 2026 (3Q26), from 6% in the preceding quarter, based on advance estimates.

The growth figure exceeded market expectations, pointing to continued resilience in domestic economic activity despite external uncertainties.

Among the top losers, Nestle fell RM1.18 to RM89.32, Kuala Lumpur Kepong shed RM1.10 to RM20, Press Metal

declined 67 sen to RM6.50, Heineken Malaysia

lost 40 sen to RM13.24 and Dutch Lady

Milk slipped 36 sen to RM28.92.

On the gainers' list, KLCC rose 94 sen to RM9.22, followed by MISC, which gained 46 sen to RM8.76, and PETRONAS Dagangan, which advanced 44 sen to RM19.64.

Technology stocks also posted gains, with ViTrox rising 28 sen to RM10.60, KESM Industries adding 25 sen to RM4.76 and Pentamaster gaining 20 sen to RM5.60.

Meanwhile, the ringgit slipped 0.01% against the US dollar to 4.0822 and fell 0.19% against the Singapore dollar to 3.1894.

The local currency also weakened 0.23% against the euro to 4.5892 and declined 0.46% against the pound sterling to 5.4381.

Based on Thursday's trading data, foreign investors and local institutions were net sellers, offloading RM14mil and RM20mil worth of equities, respectively.

Retail investors, meanwhile, were net buyers, purchasing RM34mil worth of equities.

Elsewhere in the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index rose 0.87%.

Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.39% to 65,324.29, while South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.05% to 5,668.05, snapping a seven-session losing streak.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 0.52% to 24,186.83, while Taiwan's Taiex added 0.3% to 47,111.26.

Chinese stocks rebounded from 14-month lows hit in the previous session, with the CSI 300 rising 0.11% to 4,170.61 and the Shanghai Composite climbing 0.24% to 3,716.28.

In contrast, Indonesia's benchmark stock index plunged 11%, its steepest decline since 1998, after MSCI signalled plans to downgrade the country's market from emerging-market status, according to Reuters.

The proposed reclassification could trigger substantial foreign fund outflows as Indonesian equities risk exclusion from MSCI indices tracked by global investors