Bursa Malaysia ends lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Wednesday on lacklustre trading ahead of the tabling of Budget 2022 tomorrow.

At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) trimmed 16.22 points to its intraday low of 1,566.86 from yesterday's close of 1,583.08.

The market bellwether opened 2.0 points weaker at 1,581.08 and reached an intraday high of 1,581.49 earlier in the day.

Market breadth was also negative with losers trouncing gainers 624 to 422, while 415 counters were unchanged, 830 untraded, and 58 others suspended.

Turnover increased slightly to 4.05 billion units valued at RM2.73 billion from Wednesday’s 4.02 billion units valued at RM2.50 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI was again stuck within a tight consolidation phase.

"We expect to see a similar trend with the index hovering within the 1,580-1,590 range amid a cautious trading stance ahead of Budget 2022 announcement tomorrow,” he told Bernama.

After hitting a multi-year high, crude oil prices retreated today on higher inventory, with Brent crude falling to US$84.50 per barrel.

"However, many expect crude oil prices to stay high as under investment may impact the supply side for now, hence we expect buying interests in local oil and gas counters to remain strong in the short to mid term.

"From a technical perspective, the FBM KLCI will see its immediate resistance at 1,600, followed by 1,615 while the immediate support is at 1,560 and then 1,530,” added Thong.

Of the heavyweights, Hong Leong Bank rose four sen to RM18.90, Maybank fell two sen to RM8.11, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare both eased three sen to RM4.20 and RM6.52, respectively, Petronas Chemicals shaved off nine sen to RM8.70 and TNB gave up five sen to RM9.65.

As for the actives, Benalec increased one sen to 15.5 sen, Dataprep surged 10 sen to 95 sen, Eco World jumped 14.5 sen to RM1.10, Sime Darby Property advanced 2.5 sen to 74.5 sen, Kanger shed one sen to 4.5 sen, and Sarawak Consolidated dipped six sen to 23 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 89.25 points to 11,576.51, the FBMT 100 Index was 93.59 points lower at 11,210.81, the FBM 70 decreased 40.27 points to 15,289.83, the FBM ACE slipped 86.23 points to 7,035.43, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 118.14 points to 12,589.48.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index went down 63.12 points to 15,686.73, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 3.05 points to 205.64, and the Plantation Index fell 91.74 points to 6,863.05. - Bernama