Bursa Malaysia ends lower for second consecutive day

KUALA LUMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended lower for the second consecutive day today on continued profit-taking amid the negative performance across the region, a dealer said.

At 5 pm, the FBM KLCI slid 3.07 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 1,403.03 from 1,406.10 at Monday’s close.

The key index opened 1.44 points firmer at 1,407.54 and moved between 1,399.47 and 1,407.90 throughout the day.

The broader market stayed negative as decliners led gainers 475 to 420, while 405 counters were unchanged, 986 untraded, and 14 others suspended.

Turnover declined to 3.4 billion units worth RM2.00 billion from 3.6 billion units worth RM2.18 billion on Monday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the key indices trended lower regionally as concerns over slowing economic growth in China weighed on most broader Asian markets.

"As for the local bourse, we expect bargain hunting to prevail given the attractive valuations of the benchmark index and other local stocks," he told Bernama.

He also said that the improving local economy also plays a major part in the performance of the stock market, which received strong support from local institutional funds and the resurgence of foreign funds lately.

"However, investors should remain cautious due to increasing market risks and volatility globally," he said.

Thong anticipates the FBM KLCI to trend higher within the 1,400-1,420 range for the rest of the week, with immediate resistance at 1,415 and support at 1,380.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional declined three sen to RM8.82, RM3.96 and RM9.10, respectively, CIMB shed seven sen to RM5.22, while IHH Healthcare gained four sen to RM5.84.

Of the actives, UEM Sunrise, Classita and Advance Synergy added half-a-sen each to 39 sen, 23 sen and 17 sen respectively, Malaysian Resources improved one sen to 35 sen, and Widad was flat at 42 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gave up 16.81 points to 10,398.24 and the FBMT 100 Index was 16.56 points lower at 10,078.64.

Meanwhile, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 7.55 points to 10,694.01, the FBM 70 Index improved by 0.31 of-a-point to 13,899.02, and the FBM ACE Index edged up 30.92 points to 5,365.56.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slipped 83.84 points to 15,669.76, the Energy Index eased 4.93 points to 807.56, while the Plantation Index rose 42.82 points to 6,921.64 and the Industrial Products and Services Index perked up 0.53 of-a-point to 162.09.

The Main Market volume fell to 2.42 billion units valued at RM1.72 billion from 2.50 billion units valued at RM1.82 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover expanded to 350.21 million units worth RM52.13 million versus 122.25 million units worth RM13.82 million previously.

The ACE Market volume tumbled to 629.53 million shares valued at RM220.07 million compared to 952.32 million shares valued at RM342.03 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 625.06 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (483.43 million); construction (159.70 million); technology (249.87 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (95.48 million); property (507.61 million); plantation (44.85 million); REITs (5.79 million), closed/fund (63,000); energy (99.72 million); healthcare (68.30 million); telecommunications and media (30.81 million); transportation and logistics (21.16 million); and utilities (30.29 million). - Bernama