Apex Securities' Leong said sentiment remains jittery as investors await further guidance on the US interest rate policy direction.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower for the third consecutive day, tracking regional peers’ downbeat performance as market sentiments turned cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy decision yesterday.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI fell by 0.36%, or 5.33 points, to close at 1,452.27 from Wednesday’s closing of 1,457.60.
The index opened 0.76 points easier at 1,456.84 and moved between 1,450.64 and 1,457.84 throughout the day.
The broader market was negative as decliners outpaced gainers 470 to 439, while 440 counters were unchanged, 1,024 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 3.32 billion units valued at RM1.94bil from Wednesday’s 3.45 billion units worth RM1.97bil.
Apex Securities Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong said the FBM KLCI extended its decline as investors brushed off the strong retail sales data, which recorded a 6.5% year-on-year rise in September 2023.
He said sentiment remains jittery as investors await further guidance on the US’ interest rate policy direction from several key Fed officials.
“Looking ahead, we expect consolidation to take place as investors may turn to the sidelines ahead of the extended weekend due to the Deepavali festive break,” he told Bernama.Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd
and Public Bank Bhd were flat at RM9.12 and RM4.21, respectively, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd added one sen to RM5.78, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd lost 11 sen to RM7.20 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd fell two sen to RM9.90.
Of the actives, Velesto Energy Bhd was half-a-sen weaker at 25 sen and Kanger International Bhd slipped one sen to 8.5 sen, while PDZ Holdings Bhd and Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd gained half-a-sen each to six sen and 59 sen, respectively, and Swift Haulage Bhd increased 1.5 sen to 56.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 36.35 points to 10,743.03, the FBMT 100 Index shed 38.48 points to 10,404.57, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 53.55 points to 10,945.88 and the FBM 70 Index weakened 54.12 points to 14,232.49, while the FBM ACE Index gained 29.13 points to 5,159.23.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index went down 0.29 points to 173.12, the Plantation Index shed 32.97 points to 6,923.39, the Energy Index was 3.42 points weaker at 861.53 and the Financial Services Index reduced 4.73 points to 16,365.52.
