Bursa Malaysia ends lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended Tuesday’s trading lower on selective selling in telecommunication and financial counters, amid weak buying in heavyweights.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 2.41 points to 1.641.94, led by Maxis, Axiata, Public Bank and Malaysia Airports Holdings.

The index opened 0.84 of a point higher at 1,645.19.

Overall, it fluctuated between a high of 1,645.56 and low of 1,639.50, throughout the day’s session.

Market breadth was negative with losers outnumbering gainers 430 to 390, while 436 counters remained unchanged, 599 untraded and 21 others suspended.

Volume was lower at 3.47 billion units worth RM2.37 billion compared to 3.87 billion units worth RM2.40 billion recorded previously.

Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd research head Pong Teng Siew said lack of interest from institutional investors contributed to the overall weaknesses in the FBM KLCI, despite the current active participation of retail players.

“What we saw was a twotier market, where we have weaknesses in blue chips, with institutional players mostly quiet and the index pattern generally holding at a weak level.

“On the other hand, volume has been quite good as retail investors actively nibbled at lower liners of oil and gas, as well as construction,” he told Bernama.

This, he said, was after Brent crude touched a year-to-date high of US$71.10 per barrel with tensions in Libya expected to disrupt overall global supply.

Pong also said the market had been trading sideways since last week, with the FBM KLCI exhibiting a general weakness in trend since February.

“Hence, I expect to see some changes happening soon. If the FBM KLCI fails to break to an upside, then naturally it will move down,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the FBM KLCI is pretty much in an oversold position, implying a technical rebound could happen at some point, with investors still cautious over external developments.

He said news over the US$11 billion in proposed US tariffs against the European Union following the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) findings on Airbus subsidies, suggested that the trade war narrative remains fairly visible.

“This is happening even as USChina trade discussions appear to have advanced constructively.

“Additionally, global investors are awaiting for the US corporate earnings season, especially quarterly results from JP Morgan and Wells Fargo, not to mention, the Brexit saga as UK Prime Minister Teresa May pushing for a delay in the dateline to June 30,” added Mohd Afzanizam.

Among the heavyweights, Maxis went down 10 sen to RM5.60, Axiata and Public Bank dropped four sen each to RM4.19 and RM22.58 respectively, while Malaysia Airports Holdings declined 14 sen to RM6.94.

Maybank rose two sen to RM9.30, PetChem was one sen lower at RM9.10, but Tenaga and CIMB were unchanged at RM12.60 and RM5.09 respectively.