KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the day on a mixed note after decliners surpassed gainers on the overall market, despite benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closing slightly higher.
This was after FBM Ace, which recorded strong gains in the earlier session, retreated by 0.74% following concerns surrounding the passing of Budget 2021 in Parliament this Thursday.
At the close, the index that indicates the top 30 companies in terms of market capitalisation wrapped the day 3.73 points stronger at 1,597.48, compared with Friday’s close of 1,593.75.
The index moved between 1,592.71 and 1,600.58 throughout the day.
On the scoreboard, losers led gainers 674 versus 540, while 444 counters were unchanged, 511 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 9.43 billion units worth RM4.51 billion.
In its research note today, Maybank IB quoted Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz as saying that only 20% of the overall budget — namely “charged expenditure” which is essentially pensions and debt servicing — can be spent if Budget 2021 is not approved.
The remaining 80%, including expenditure for operations of public services like healthcare, education, law and order, must be approved by the Parliament.
Concerns over the passing of the budget have been on the rise since several members of the ruling coalition voiced their disapproval of the budget which was tabled on Nov 6, an analyst said.
“The bigger concern is about what happens if the budget is not passed. Hence for now, foreign investors are holding back until the dust settles,“ she said.
On the local bourse, Petronas Dagangan led the gainers list after surging RM2.48 to RM22.10 on the back of better oil prices, while IHH was up 10 sen to RM5.55, PPB rose 54 sen to RM18.62 and Dialog gained 12 sen to RM3.75.
Among the actives, Metronic added one sen to 11.5 sen, while Kanger inched up half-a-sen to 19.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 26.79 points higher at 11,490.67, the FBMT 100 Index improved 27.71 points to 11,274.59, the FBM Emas Shariah Index jumped 47.87 points to 13,269.64, and the FBM 70 lifted 41.80 points to 14,776.57.
Industrial Products and Services Index dipped 0.30 of-a-point to 159.88, the Plantation Index trimmed 3.12 points to 7,341.36 and the Financial Services Index slipped 52.58 points to 13,960.74.
The Main Market volume rose to 5.24 billion worth RM3.15 billion from 4.08 billion shares worth RM3.72 billion last Friday.
Warrants turnover decreased to 567.88 million worth RM104.53 million from 830.24 million units valued at RM167.23 million last week.
Volume on the ACE Market narrowed to 3.60 billion shares worth RM1.25 billion from last Friday’s 4.09 billion shares worth RM1.27 billion.
Consumer products and services accounted for 754.70 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (2.13 billion), construction (208.07 million), technology (277.00 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (49.16 million), property (292.82 million), plantations (77.18 million), REITs (11.18 million), closed/fund (15,800), energy (799.63 million), healthcare (88.95 million), telecommunications and media (47.51 million), transportation and logistics (440.40 million), and utilities (62.32 million). — Bernama
