Rakuten's Thong said he expects the FBM KLCI to stage a rebound and trend within the range of 1,380 to 1,395 towards the weekend.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed on a softer note despite Bank Negara’s decision to retain the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3%.
At 5 pm, the FBM KLCI fell 3.95 points, or 0.28%, to 1,385.95 from 1,389.90 at Wednesday’s close.
The key index opened 0.19 of a point lower at 1,389.71 yesterday morning and moved between 1,381.86 and 1,389.71 throughout the session.
The broader market was also negative as losers trounced gainers 514 to 339, while 398 counters were unchanged, 995 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover decreased slightly to 2.45 billion units worth RM1.65bil versus 2.54 billion units worth RM1.52bil on Wednesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI closed marginally lower in tandem with the negative performance in regional markets.
He said key regional markets trended lower following a negative cue from Wall Street overnight as investor sentiment has been dampened by the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) most recent policy meeting on Wednesday.
The Fed revealed that certain central bank officials expressed the desire to increase rates in mid-July.
“As US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen embarks on several days of meetings in Beijing, investors are closely monitoring any developments regarding the ongoing tensions between the United States and China,” he told Bernama.
Thong said the local market selldown had provided bargain-hunting opportunity for investors, hence he expects the FBM KLCI to stage a rebound and trend within the range of 1,380 to 1,395 towards the weekend.
“Technically, we see the resistance at 1,400 with support at 1,373,” he added.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd
and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd added three sen each to RM8.73 and RM5.21, Public Bank Bhd lost two sen to RM3.88, Tenaga Nasional Bhd inched down one sen to RM9.07 and IHH Healthcare Bhd erased three sen to RM5.80.
Of the actives, Widad Group Bhd and BTM Resources Bhd gained half sen to 42 sen and 10 sen and Jade Marvel Group Bhd perked 1.5 sen to 22.5 sen, but Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd and MyEG Services Bhd was down one sen each to 46.5 sen and 73 sen.
The Main Market volume slipped to 1.63 billion units valued at RM1.35bil from 1.79 billion units valued at RM1.28bil on Wednesday.
