KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia erased earlier gains to end lower today due to profit-taking due to the lack of fresh catalysts as investors remained cautious amid the mixed performance of regional and global equity markets, a dealer said.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dipped 3.93 points to end at 1,484.26 compared with Wednesday’s close of 1,488.19.
The key index opened 0.35 of-a-point weaker at 1,487.84 and moved between 1,483.54 and 1,494.54 throughout the trading day.
However, the market breadth was positive as advancers led decliners 527 to 403, while 410 counters were unchanged, 873 untraded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 4.56 billion units worth RM2.55 billion against Wednesday’s 3.49 billion units worth RM2.02 billion.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said local market sentiment remained on shaky footing as higher United States (US) yields on the back of sticky US inflation data, compounded by very strong retail sales, have markets thinking the Federal Reverse (Fed) will need to move interest rates higher and keep them there longer.
However, the recent data is possibly due to seasonal trends, hence, investors are really waiting to see how the Fed interprets the hot US data. In the meantime, the stronger US dollar is dissuading investors to add more local risk,” he told Bernama.
However, Innes said, with China’s economic expectations still bright into the second quarter (2Q), and as oil prices started to move higher again, supporting oil and gas constituents -- investors continued to nibble on dips.
“But, for the FBM KLCI to move decisively above 1,500, investors need to see some evidence of a China slingshot recovery into 2Q,” he added.
Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank lost 3.0 sen to RM8.77, Public Bank fell 1.0 sen to RM4.17, Petronas Chemicals dropped 2.0 sen to RM8.20, Tenaga Nasional slid 5.0 sen to RM9.90, and CIMB was flat at RM5.43.
As for active stocks, MYEG, Sapura Energy and Vinvest were all flat at 69.5 sen, 5.0 sen and 23 sen, respectively. Hong Seng slipped 3.0 sen to 18.5 sen, while Betamek was 3.0 sen higher at 61 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 10.96 points to 10,815.68 and the FBMT 100 Index slipped 12.21 points to 10,481.27. The FBM Emas Shariah Index perked up 3.27 points to 11,177.28, the FBM 70 Index climbed 50.69 points to 13,699.98 and the FBM ACE Index rose 38.71 points to 5,749.55.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index declined 41.06 points to 16,119.99 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.25 of-a-point to 190.46, the Plantation Index shed 1.20 points to 6,901.70, while the Energy Index put on 8.56 points to 901.20.
The Main Market volume swelled to 2.96 billion shares worth RM1.99 billion compared with Wednesday’s 2.29 billion shares worth RM1.64 billion.
Warrants turnover expanded to 556.92 million units worth RM83.58 million from 359.74 million units worth RM50.75 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume increased to 1.04 billion shares worth RM469.63 million from 896.29 million shares worth RM330.37 previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 284.56 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (574.13 million); construction (113.66 million); technology (1.13 billion); SPAC (nil), financial services (66.95 million); property (151.59 million); plantation (27.22 million); REITs (10.39 million), closed/fund (5,000); energy (325.57 million); healthcare (162.93 million); telecommunications and media (31.53 million); transportation and logistics (58.64 million); and utilities (19.08 million). - Bernama
