Bursa Malaysia falls to 52-week low
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia fell to a 52-week low yesterday with 25 of the benchmark index’s heavyweight stocks in the red and Tenaga being the main drag.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 15.23 points to 1,624.23 from 1,639.46 previously.
The index, which opened 0.13 point lower at 1,639.33, fluctuated between 1,622.45 and 1,639.33 throughout the day.
Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers by 620 to 275, while 390 counters remained unchanged, 584 were untraded and 31 others were suspended.
Volume was higher at 3.58 billion units worth RM2.27 billion from 3.34 billion units worth RM2.36 billion recorded previously. It was reported that Khazanah Nasional sold 85 million Tenaga shares yesterday at RM12.33 apiece.
According to terms for the deal obtained by Bloomberg, the sale wiped out RM2.5 billion from the utility giant’s market capitalisation, reducing its size to RM69.03 billion.
Amid the sell-off Khazanah remained as the largest shareholder by a wide margin in Tenaga. At the close, Tenaga dropped 52 sen to RM12.06.
Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd research head Pong Teng Siew said overall, most of the 30stock FBM KLCI were in bearish mode.
“The specific trigger for this drop, given that yesterday’s close was not so bad with just a small decline, is Tenaga.
“The market is definitely slowly falling but some pointed out that other than the top 30 stocks, the market is not doing that badly. The Small Cap Index and the FBM 70 components’ performance have been quiet good,” he told Bernama.
He said February’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) might also have some impact on Tenaga and the overall market direction.
“The IPI does have some suggestive play on the performance of the market but maybe not in the very big way because it has been weaker for sometime already.
“Month on month, there was a sharp drop in electricity production index growth, which was 7.8 per cent year-on-year (yo-y) in January and grew only 4.9 per cent in February.
“So, the sharp slowdown in electricity production may have some impact in Tenaga selldown,” he added.
The Department of Statistics today reported IPI grew 1.7 per cent y-o-y in February, driven by the increase in the index of electricity (4.9 per cent) and manufacturing (3.7 per cent).
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said it appeared that the narrative of weaker global growth prospects had become louder.
“The latest European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council meeting yesterday suggested that the risks surrounding the euro area growth outlook remain tilted on the downside.
“This is on account of uncertainties related to geopolitical factors, the threat of protectionism and vulnerabilities in emerging markets,” Mohd Afzanizam said.
In addition, he said, the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes released last night also highlighted the underlying downside risk, which stemmed from trade policies and foreign economic economic development that could move in directions that had significant negative effects on US economic growth.
“This has badly affected the equities markets regionally and domestically. In a nutshell, riskoff mode has become prevalent,” he added.
Among the heavyweights, Maxis went down 10 sen to RM5.50, Sime Darby declined nine sen to RM5.05, Axiata was six sen lower at RM4.09 and Genting inched down 11 sen to RM6.68.
Maybank and Public Bank lost two sen each to RM9.26 and RM22.62, respectively.
Among actives, Daya Materials and Sumatec stood unchanged at one sen each. Ekovest, meanwhile, was half-a-sen lower at 63 sen.