KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia erased early gains to end flat yesterday, following a choppy trading session amid cautious investor sentiment on concerns over inflation.
At 5 pm, the FBM KLCI fell 0.05 of-a-point to 1,431.05 from Wednesday’s close of 1,431.10.
The key index, which opened 3.40 points firmer at 1,434.50 and fluctuated between 1,427.78 and 1,441.47 throughout the day.
On the broader market, losers beat gainers 500 to 348, while 410 counters were unchanged, 1,008 untraded, and nine others suspended.Total turnover shrank to 2.34 billion units worth RM1.56bil from 2.72 billion units worth RM1.90bil on Wednesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local market was dragged down by selling mainly in energy, industrial products and real estate investment trusts stocks.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local market was dragged down by selling mainly in energy, industrial products and real estate investment trusts stocks.
Regionally, he said the key indices closed mostly higher due to bargain hunting activities after the sell offs on Wednesday.
“Back home, we believe the market undertone will remain cautious amid the increasing regional volatility although bargain hunting activities may prevail,” he told Bernama.
As such, he expects the benchmark index to hover at the 1,425 to 1,445 range towards the weekend, with immediate support at 1,415 and resistance at 1,490.
Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd
shed four sen to RM8.56, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd dipped 15 sen to RM9.15, IHH Healthcare Bhd eased two sen to RM6.36, while Public Bank Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd were both unchanged at RM4.40 and RM4.90, respectively.
Of the most active stocks, YX Precious Metals Bhd declined one sen to 27 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd shed 5.5 sen to 93.5 sen, Dagang Nexchange Bhd eased 1.5 sen to 75.5 sen, Yong Tai Bhd was flat at nine sen and Widad Group Bhd added one sen to 37 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 4.01 points to 10,207.23, FBM 70 slid 15.63 points to 12,343.88, FBMT 100 Index slipped 3.24 points to 9,949.10, while FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 9.00 points to 10,352.98, and the FBM ACE widened 31.12 points to 4,746.61.
Sector-wise, the financial services index tumbled 55.53 points to 15,920.59, the industrial products and services index shed 1.78 points to 181.28, and the plantation index climbed 164.65 points to 6,954.28.
The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.38 billion shares worth RM1.32bil from 1.73 billion shares worth RM1.65bil on Wednesday.
Warrants turnover dwindled to 422.80 million units valued at RM100.04mil against 547.89 million units valued at RM106.68mil yesterday.
The ACE Market volume rose to 535.47 million shares worth RM137.41mil from 441.90 million shares worth RM137.99mil previously.
