Bursa Malaysia almost flat at close
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia was almost flat at Thursday’s close, with some buying in selected heavyweights but offset by selling in small caps, a dealer said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended at 1,686.95, up 0.13 point, from Wednesday’s close of 1,686.82.
The benchmark index opened 4.49 points weaker at 1,682.33 and moved between 1,682.33 and 1,690.23 throughout the day.
On the scoreboard, market breadth was negative with 460 losers to 428 gainers, while 388 counters remained unchanged, 602 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Volume was lower at 3.06 billion units worth RM2.41 billion from 3.16 billion units valued at RM2.5 billion recorded yesterday.
Phillip Capital Management senior vice-president (investment) Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the local bourse is a defensive market and is currently receiving local buying support.
“The local buying sentiment is firm here because of the safe haven play.. so most of the funds from outside will find dividend play such as on Bursa Malaysia. But basically, I think this situation would be temporary as regionally, the Asian market is trading on a downtrend,” he told Bernama.
Another dealer echoed a similar sentiment, saying there was interest in heavyweights on the exchange, but it was weighed down by the cautious sentiment among investors.
“They (investors) are focusing on the 10-day National People’s Congress meeting, which commenced on Tuesday (March 5) that would detail the country’s economic growth target and also the new law on foreign investment.
“And the latest one, Chinese technology company Huawei has decided to sue the US for barring government agencies from buying its equipment and services. This will likely provide both pros and cons as Malaysian companies supply products for both the US and China,” he explained.
Among heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM9.53, Public Bank rose two sen to RM24.54, Petronas Chemicals added six sen to RM9.36 and Tenaga was two sen better at RM12.82. Of actives, Prestariang jumped 10 sen 54 sen, My EG added four sen to RM1.23, Sino Hua-An inched up half-a-sen to 22.5 sen while Sapura Energy fell half-a-sen to 31.5 sen.
Separately, Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd today issued an Unusual Market Activity query to Lafarge Malaysia Bhd on the sharp rise in the company’s share prices.
At 3.13 pm, the company’s shares rose 35 sen to RM2.35, with 4.27 million units traded.
The FBM Emas Index increased 11.26 points to 11,782.62, the FBMT 100 Index rose 11.57 points to 11,636.68 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 26.75 points to 11,790.02.
The FBM 70 gained 58.15 points to 14,208.29 while the FBM Ace Index depreciated 58.17 points to 4,662.72.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lost 38.56 points to 17,518.80, the Plantation Index erased 24.26 points to 7,292.75 and the Industrial Products and Services Index perked 1.23 points to 170.84.
Main Market volume decreased to 2.24 billion shares worth RM2.24 billion from 2.41 billion shares valued at RM2.38 billion.
Warrants turnover rose to 541.66 million units worth RM116.22 million from 496.72 million units valued at RM98.78 million.
Volume on the ACE Market increased to 262.03 million shares valued at RM56.17 million versus 250.20 million shares worth RM51.75 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 213.16 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (377.05 million), construction (263,02 million), technology (539.02 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (60 million), property (158.15 million), plantation (30.38 million), REITs (12.40 million), closed/fund (145,000), energy (444.52 million), healthcare (33.42 million), telecommunications and media (43.43 million), transportation and logistics (36.80 million), and utilities (32.66 million).