Bursa M’sia fails to hold on last week’s gains on rising Covid-19 cases

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia failed to hold on to last week’s gains as investors remained ji ery over the continued rise on the number of Covid-19 cases.

This was despite a massive RM250 billion Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (Prihatin) announced by the government last Friday.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 14.21 points, or 1.06 per cent to close at 1,328.88 and moved between 1,317.39 and 1,336.23.

The key index opened 6.86 points weaker at 1,336.23 at 9 am today.

Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 511 to 305, while 302 counters were unchanged, 892 untraded and 108 others suspended.

Turnover shrank to 2.83 billion shares worth RM1.86 billion from 4.22 billion shares worth RM2.73 billion last Friday.

In a note today, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said no doubt the economic stimulus packages announced across the globe including Malaysia’s, had managed to halt the recent global equities meltdown.

“However, a ention has now shi ed back to the impact of COVID-19 that saw a number of cases across the global rose at an exponential rate,” it said.

As of Sunday, COVID-19 had claimed 35 lives in Malaysia and infected 2,470 people nationwide. A total of 150 new cases were reported on Sunday alone.

While reckoning that the RM250 billion stimulus package is a necessary economic backstop, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd Research (MIDF Research) strategy head Syed Muhammed Kifni Syed Kamaruddin however, said it would not be able to provide a sufficiently strong impetus towards general market sentiment.

“In the immediate-term, market sentiment will continue to be dominated by the success and setbacks in containing the spread of COVID-19 infections, both locally and worldwide,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Axiata eased 16 sen to RM3.22, IHH fell 11 sen to RM5.15, RHB Bank fell 18 sen to RM4.79, Maybank slipped six sen to RM7.31 and Hartalega was 19 sen weaker at RM6.80.

Of the actives, Careplus bagged four sen to 26.5 sen, Vortex added two sen to five sen, Armada trimmed half-a-sen to 13 sen, while MLAB and Sapura Energy were unchanged at 1.5 sen and 7.5 sen respectively.

Top losers were led by Dutch Lady which dropped 84 sen to RM42.04, followed by Hong Leong Bank which retreated 78 sen to RM13.42, Carlsberg dipped 72 sen to RM24.90, Yinson was 52 sen lower at RM4.78 and KLK slipped 48 sen to RM20.10.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dwindled 105.89 points to 9,080.40, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 99.42 points to 9,908.96 while the FBMT 100 Index gave up 104.50 points to 9,017.73.