Bursa ends flat with key index down on last trading day of 3Q

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the last trading day of the third quarter of the year on a flat note, after roller-coaster trading all day long.

At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 2.87 points, or 0.21 per cent, to settle at 1,394.63 from Thursday's close of 1,397.50.

The benchmark index opened 2.21 points easier at 1,395.29 and subsequently moved between 1,390.41 and 1,402.23 throughout the day.

On the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers 462 to 358, while 408 counters were unchanged, 1,155 untraded, and 37 others suspended.

Total turnover decreased to 2.08 billion units worth RM1.91 billion from 2.28 billion units worth RM1.86 billion on Thursday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the near term market sentiment remains jittery due to the uncertain regional and global performance.

"However, we believe bargain hunting may prevail going forward as the FBM KLCI remains in an oversold position,” he told Bernama.

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.63 per cent to 3,134.56, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slid 1.83 per cent to 25,937.21 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 0.33 per cent to 17,222.83.

Among Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweight stocks, Maybank grew two sen to RM8.58, Public Bank gained three sen to RM4.23, and Hong Leong Bank advanced 22 sen to RM20.50.

Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.39, while CIMB and IHH Healthcare declined two sen each to RM5.13 and RM5.90, respectively.

Of the actives, Top Glove increased four sen to 62.5 sen, PT Resources went up 2.5 sen to 46 sen, AT Systematization was flat at one sen and MY E.G. inched down half-a-sen to 85 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 4.58 points to 9,976.86, the FBM 70 improved 46.23 points to 12,201.81, and the FBMT 100 Index declined 6.41 points to 9,728.7.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 33.82 points to 10,008.03, and the FBM ACE eased 2.18 points to 4,657.87.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index slipped 1.32 points to 670.18, the Plantation Index dropped 30.74 points to 6,473.76, the Financial Services Index went up 40.11 points to 15,922.45, and the Industrial Products and Services Index trimmed 0.10 of-a-point to 169.87.

The Main Market volume depreciated to 1.19 billion shares worth RM1.65 billion against Thursday's 1.46 billion shares worth RM1.57 billion.

Warrants turnover stood at 258.61 million units valued at RM50.33 million from 228.98 million units valued at RM41.72 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume increased to 626.22 million shares worth RM209.75 million from 583.68 million shares worth RM251.01 million on Thursday. Consumer products and services counters accounted for 160.85 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (329.09 million), construction (61.80 million), technology (111.89 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (78.19 million), property (71.39 million), plantation (22.33 million), REITs (7.60 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (74.53 million), healthcare (160.48 million), telecommunications and media (43.54 million), transportation and logistics (36.171 million) and utilities (32.99 million). - Bernama