Bursa ends lower on negative news flows
BURSA Malaysia pared down earlier losses to close marginally lower yesterday but remained weak amid continuous selling activities in the broader market.
At the close, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.17 points to 1,619.73 against Wednesday’s close of 1,620.9.
The index opened 3.23 points lower at 1,617.67 and fluctuated between 1,609.83 and 1,620.55 throughout the day.
In a research note earlier yesterday, Maybank Investment Bank said negative news flows had dampened investor appetite, although the Malaysian equities market could be ripe for bargain-hunting in the near term.
Market breadth on Bursa Malay
sia was negative with 453 losers and 397 gainers, while 392 counters were unchanged, 654 untraded and 22 others suspended. Volume was lower at 2.89 billion units worth RM2.17 billion against Wednesday’s 3.10 billion units worth RM1.85 billion.
Of the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals added one sen to RM8.93, Tenaga rose 10 sen to RM12.16 while Maybank, CIMB and Axiata were all flat at RM9, RM5.05 and RM4.08, respectively.
Public Bank eased two sen to RM22.58, IHH Healthcare shaved off five sen to RM5.48, Hong Leong Bank decreased six sen to RM19.94 and Maxis gave up 12 sen to RM5.41.
Of the actives, Orion IXL rose one sen to 18 sen, Iskandar Waterfront gained three sen to 86 sen, Bumi Armada was flat at 19 sen, Sapura Energy declined one sen to 31.5 sen and Impiana Hotels slid half-a-sen to six sen.
Trading in Seacera Group Bhd’s securities was halted with effect from 3.30pm yesterday until 9am today.
The FBM Emas Index declined 4.46 points to 11,467.12, the FBMT100 slipped 6.32 points to 11,298.09 and the FBM 70 inched down 0.55 of-a-point to 14,306.13.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 3.95 points to 11,681.87 and the FBM Ace Index advanced 65.39 points to 4,664.48.
Main Market volume decreased to 1.95 billion shares worth RM1.99 billion against 2.18 billion shares worth RM1.69 billion on Wednesday.
Warrants turnover increased to 416.81 million units valued at RM89.25 million from 379.85 million units valued at RM78.74 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market eased to 513.24 million shares worth RM92.01 million from 531.76 million shares worth RM80.09 million.
Meanwhile, the FBM KLCI futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives also ended slightly lower yesterday, in line with the underlying cash market.
April 2019 fell 3.0 points to 1,619.0, May 2019 eased 1.0 points to 1,620.5, June 2019 declined 1.5 points to 1,620.0 and September 2019 shed 2.0 points to 1,617.5.
Turnover decreased to 5,518 lots from 5,578 lots on Wednesday, while open interest increased to 32,340 contracts against 31,767 contracts.