KUALA LUMPUR: The local bourse moved into negative territory at midday as investors decided to take some money off the table and Telekom Malaysia Bhd
(TM) weighed.
At 12.30 pm, the FBM KLCI fell 6.31 points, or 0.37% at 1,700.07. The benchmark index opened 6.43 points higher at 1,712.81 this morning.
In the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 397 to 260 while 313 counters were unchanged. Turnover stood at 846.46 billion shares worth RM585.64mil.
JF Apex Research said the FBM KLCI was expected to trend sideways below the immediate resistance of 1,710 points following the mixed performance in the US and Europe.
US markets ended flat on Friday amid losses in technology counters while European stocks closed lower following concerns on Brexit.
“After last week’s gains, the index tested the resistance of 1,710 points and could extend its rebound towards the next resistance at 1,750 points. Failure to beat the 1710-point level could see the index trend sideways above the support of 1,660 points,” JF Apex said.
Shares of TM were in focus today following the resignation of its acting CEO Datuk Bazlan Osman effective immediately. TM said Bazlan has left to pursue other interests.
TM fell 5.04%, or 12 sen to RM2.26 with 8.48 million shares done.
StarBiz also reported that TM is at risk of finding itself out of the FBM KLCI when the constituents of the index are reviewed next. Its market capitalisation has fallen from RM22.7bil at the beginning of the year to just over RM9bil, putting it out of the 30 largest companies on Bursa Malaysia.
On Bursa Malaysia, Ajinomoto was the top loser, falling 50 sen to RM20. Malaysia Airports Holdings eased 17 sen to RM7.99 and Carlsberg closed 14 sen lower at RM19.64.
Laggards in the KLCI component stocks included Petronas Chemicals, which fell 10 sen to RM9.30, IOI Corp shed 12 sen to RM4.27 and IHH healthcare fell five sen to RM4.69.
Elsewhere in the region, Asian shares closed higher with Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.54%, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.04% while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong advanced 0.41% and the CSI300 index added 0.5%.
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