Bursa Malaysia ends at intra-day low
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended at an intra-day low today on the back of US Federal Reserve's interest rates enactment uncertainty, dealers said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended 8.12 points weaker at 1,717.42 from 1,725.54 on Wednesday.
The index opened 2.33 points lower at 1,723.21 and moved between 1,717.42 and 1,724.4 throughout the day.
On the broader market, decliners led gainers by 558 to 345, with 359 counters unchanged, 441 untraded and 15 others suspended.
Volume rose to 3.35 billion units worth RM2.46 billion against yesterday's 3.07 billion units worth RM2.44 billion.
FXTM Research Analyst Lukman Otunuga said Asian shares painted a mixed picture during early trading on Thursday following the bearish cues overnight from Wall Street and heavily depressed commodity prices.
"With participants adopting a caution trading stance ahead of the pending European Central Bank this afternoon, European markets could be exposed to downside risks.
"The rising prospects of higher US rates have started to weigh on investor sentiment and such may translate to further downside pressures on Wall Street.
"While the resilience seen in the stock market rally may be commended, bears could make an appearance if investors start to lose patience over Trump's pending fiscal stimulus plans," said Otunuga.
Meanwhile, the FBM Emas Index fell 64.22 points to 12,134.45, the FBMT100 Index declined 65.7 points to 11,804.17 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index trimmed 67 points at 12,550.4.
The FBM 70 decreased 116.07 points to 14,131.14 and the FBM Ace was 11.62 points weaker at 5,327.68.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index fell 15.39 points to 8,084.66, the Finance Index declined 88.43 points to 15,402.47 and the Industrial Index eased 13.38 points to 3,237.53.
Among heavyweights, TNB rose four sen to RM13.74, Maxis and CIMB was up one sen each to RM6.41 and RM5.38, respectively, while Maybank declined 10 sen to RM8.73, Public Bank fell 12 sen to RM19.80, and Petronas Chemicals decreased seven sen to RM7.37.
Of the actives, Iskandar Waterfront City rose 12 sen to RM1.76, Frontken edged up half-a-sen to 24.5 sen, while DBE Gurney and Dagang Nexchange were flat at four sen and 40.5 sen, respectively.
Meanwhile, Hibiscus Petroleum eased 1.5 sen to 45.5 sen and Bumi Armada fell 1.5 sen to 72 sen.
Main Market turnover rose to 2.67 billion units worth RM2.34 billion from Wednesday's 2.17 billion units worth RM2.3 billion.
Volume on the ACE Market declined to 444.33 million shares valued at RM89.75 million from 621.97 million shares valued at RM101.04 million yesterday.
Warrants trimmed to 224.86 million units worth RM29.79 million from 273.1 million units worth RM36.85 million on Wednesday.
Consumer products accounted for 734.96 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (456.4 million), construction (235.18 million), trade and services (687.87 million), technology (85.61 million), infrastructure (6.7 million), SPAC (7.72 million), finance (83.14 million), hotels (1.62 million), properties (346.34 million), plantations (19.89 million), mining (10,000), REITs (10.81 million), and closed/fund (100,500).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM167.01 per gramme, down 94 sen from RM167.95 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama