Geopolitical tension drags KL shares lower, CI down 3.71 pts
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower yesterday in line with regional peers as bearish sentiment curbed interest in equities, dealers said.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) finished 3.71 points lower at 1,777.94 after fluctuating between 1,775.99 and 1,779.77 throughout the session.
The benchmark index opened 4.35 points easier at 1,777.3 earlier on and moved in a tight range as selling in blue chips limited any upside.
MISC, which announced a poor second-quarter results yesterday, dragged the composite index down by 1.295 points. The energy-related maritime solutions and services provider’s stock fell 17 sen to RM7.33 with 1.22 million shares transacted.
Inter-Pacific Securities Head of Research, Pong Teng Siew said sentiment in the market was weak, clouded by the growing geopolitical tensions between the United States and North Korea that pushed investors to the sidelines.
“The market was spooked and investors came off trading. They are reluctant to claw back (into the market) until the tension goes away,” he told Bernama.
On the broader market, losers trounced gainers by 452 to 317, with 415 counters unchanged, 649 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Volume shrank to 1.42 billion units worth RM1.75 billion from 2.09 billion units valued at RM2.26 billion registered previously.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped 1.29 per cent to 19,738.71, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.1 per cent to 2,368.39, Singapore’s Straits Times eased 0.08 per cent to 3,318.08, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.35 per cent to 27,757.09.
Of the other heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank rose two sen to RM9.82, but Petronas Chemicals slipped one sen to RM7.01.
Tenaga, Public Bank, Sime Darby, and CIMB were all flat at RM14.22, RM20.62 RM9.41 and RM6.76, respectively.
Among actives, both Compugates and Hibiscus were flat at three sen and 45.5 sen, respectively, Press Metal advanced 33 sen to RM3.27 while MLABS gained 1.5 sen to 16.5 sen.
The biggest loser yesterday was BAT which dipped RM1.50 to RM43.00, followed by KESM and Petron which fell 42 sen and 31 sen to RM14.36 and RM8.99, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index fell 22.11 points to 12,622.53, FBMT 100 Index lost 21.48 points to 12,278.9, FBM Emas Syariah Index declined 14.46 points to 12,748.75, and the FBM 70 decreased 10.32 points to 14,921.47.
The FBM Ace, however, chalked up 57.29 points to 6,501.44.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index gave up 42.38 points to 16,837.11, Industrial Index erased 26.55 points to 3,251.43 and the Plantation Index was down 27.27 points to 7,840.86.
The Main Market turnover shrank to 982.54 million shares worth RM1.62 billion from 1.45 billion shares valued at RM2.08 billion on Tuesday.
Volume on the ACE Market retreated to 280.08 million shares worth RM83 million from 462.89 million shares valued at RM154.88 million on Tuesday.
Warrants narrowed to 148.74 million units worth RM26.87 million from 168.38 million units valued at RM22.99 million previously.
Consumer products accounted for 41.02 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products ( 361.49 million), construction (50.54 million), trade and services ( 350.35 million), technology (34.24 million), infrastructure ( 4.95 million), SPAC ( 52,000), finance (51.15 million), hotels (2.59 million), properties (73.89 million), plantations (9.48 million), mining (39,000), REITs (2.73 million) and closed/fund (18,000).