Bursa Malaysia lower at close on mild selling

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained lower at yesterday’s close on continued mild selling and in line with some Asian bourses, a dealer said.

At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI finished at 1,837.04, down one point from Tuesday’s close of 1,838.04. It had opened 0.08 better at 1,838.12.

Market breadth was negative with losers outnumbering gainers 603 to 404, while 414 counters were unchanged, 440 untraded and 33 others suspended.

Turnover slipped to 3.35 billion units valued at RM2.43 billion from 3.91 billion units worth RM3.01 billion Tuesday.

The market barometer moved between 1,834.49 and 1,838.34 the throughout the day.

A dealer said investors took profits following recent gains and expects shares on Bursa Malaysia to be supported by foreign buying following positive news concerning Malaysia of late.

“Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that Malaysia’s total trade from January-November 2017, grew 20.8 per cent. He also said the capital market continued to grow from strength to strength.

“This would likely help boost the equity market and welcome and inflow of more funds into the country,” he added.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank were flat at RM9.89 and RM20.96, respectively, Tenaga fell two sen to RM15.84 and Petronas Chemicals was three sen lower at RM8.00.

Among actives, Sumatec and Vizione were flat at 10.5 sen and 16.5 sen, UMW Oil & Gas eased half-a-sen to 34 sen, while PA Resources was halfa-sen better at 11.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index fell 26.86 points to 13,285.79, the FBMT 100 Index went down 25.45 points to 12,950.86 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 50.42 points lower at 13,691.90.

The FBM 70 declined 94.51 points to 16,697.12 and the FBM Ace depreciated 88.42 points to 6,716.11.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index gained 10.26 points to 17,392.89 as the Plantation Index advanced 13.21 points to 8,056.16.But, the Industrial Index eased 22.05 points to 3,355.68.

The Main Market fell to 2.47 billion units worth RM2.70 billion from 3.2 billion worth RM2.55 billion on Tuesday.

Volume on the ACE Market declined to 688.23 million shares valued at RM168.80 million from 790.65 million valued at RM196.19 million.

Warrants volume was higher at 750.43 million units worth RM139.57 million versus 618.32 million units valued at RM112.5 million.

Consumer products accounted for 141.30 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (561.13 million), construction (115.78 million), trade and services (1.16 billion), technology (173.21 million), infrastructure (7.06 million), SPAC (39.12 million), finance (73.01 million), hotels (808,400), properties, (159.32 million), plantations (35.77 million), mining (470,900), REITs (4.59 million), and closed/fund (5,900).

For further information on stocks and prices, please visit www.bursamalaysia. com.