Bursa Malaysia rebounds, but settles below 1,600 psychological level

KUALA LUMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rebounded from earlier losses to finish the day just a whisker below the 1,600 psychological level, on fresh hopes over the US-China trade deal after US President Donald Trump said he will meet President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in June.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ( FBM KLCI) eased 1.90 points to 1,599.19, the lowest since September 2015 after opening 20.24 points lower at 1,580.85.

The benchmark index moved between a low of 1,572.03 and a high of 1,603.72 during the day.

Losers outnumbered gainers 488 to 386 with 381 counters unchanged, 654 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Turnover increased to 2.82 billion shares valued at RM2.46 billion from 2.48 billion shares worth RM1.65 billion Monday.

Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd head of research Pong Teng Siew said Trump’s prediction that the trade talks would be successful had eased concerns over a full-blown trade war after China raised tariffs on U$60 billion in US exports in retaliation for the US president’s move to impose tariff on another US$200 billion in Chinese goods.

Following the rebound in the local market, Pong said the market is expected to be on a positive trend for a few months.

Meanwhile, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said some institutional investors may have entered and supported the market.

“It remains to be seen whether the rebound can be sustained as the US is contemplating to raise tariff on another US$300 billion (in Chinese) goods involving tech-related products,” he said, adding that support level is currently seen at 1,596 points.

He said investors could be watching closely the forms of retaliation by China going forward, whether it will involve non-tariff measures such as currency devaluation, selling off US Treasury bonds holdings and introducing measures or regulations that will impede international trade between the two countries.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank dropped two sen to RM8.96, while Public Bank rose 14 sen to RM22.46, Tenaga added six sen to RM11.80 and CIMB up four sen to RM5.16.

Of the actively-traded stocks, Bumi Armada and Impiana were unchanged at 19 sen and four sen, respectively.

Ekovest inched up 1.5 sen to 85.5 sen and Lambo was one sen higher at eight sen.

The FBM Emas Index declined 15.81 points to 11,258.73, the FBMT 100 dipped 18.84 points to 11,096.71 and the FBM 70 lost 46.42 points to 13,816.45.