Bursa Malaysia finishes on easier note

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower yesterday on selling pressures amid bearish sentiment, a dealer said.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended 5.31 points lower at 1,859.91 from Friday’s close of 1,865.22.

The key index opened 4.34 points lower at 1,860.88 and moved between 1,852.55 and 1,862.41 throughout the day.

Market breadth was negative with losers thumped gainers by 589 to 334, with 371 counters unchanged, 601 untraded and 26 others suspended. Volume fell to 1.98 billion units worth RM1.79 billion from 2.09 billion units worth RM2.15 billion on Friday.

A dealer said regional stock markets were mixed following a rebound in the US equity futures markets amid worries on the possibility of the US-China trade war which continued to linger.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.72 per cent to 20,766.10, Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.10 per cent to 3,418.02 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.79 per cent to 30,548.77.

Meanwhile, on the domestic front, the dealer said, the uncertainty on when the Dewan Rakyat would be dissolved has affected trading sentiment.

“The Dewan Rakyat could be dissolved anytime from now, thus, creating uncertainty among investors which makes them holding back from investing further,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Maybank gained two sen to RM10.52, Public Bank lost eight sen to RM23.92, Tenaga was flat at RM15.76, CIMB Group fell one sen to RM7.20, while Petronas Chemicals and IHH each eased three sen to RM8.15 and RM6.00, respectively.

Of the actively-traded stocks, Sapura Energy added 1.5 sen to 56.5 sen, Sumatec Resources was flat at 6.5 sen and Priceworth fell half-a-sen to 19 sen.

Among top losers, Nestle dipped RM2.00 to RM148.00, KESM fell 46 sen to RM19.04 and Heineken Malaysia shed 44 sen to RM20.88.

The FBM Emas Index decreased 44.25 points to 13,016.41, FBMT 100 Index fell 42.80 points to 12,801.72 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 33.47 points to 13,165.35.

The FBM 70 declined 73.14 points to 15,465.78 and the FBM Ace shed 71.58 points to 5,610.34.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index slipped to 62.53 points to 18,146.49, Industrial Index eased 6.08 points to 3,234.34 and the Plantation Index went down 13.95 points to 8,034.75.

Main Market volume declined to 1.29 billion units worth RM1.65 billion from 1.41 billion units worth RM2.01 billion on last Friday.

Volume on the ACE Market increased to 356.27 million shares valued at RM74.58 million from Friday’s 291.02 million shares valued at RM50.87 million.

Warrants’ volume expanded to 327.30 million units worth RM63.44 million from 379.6 million units worth RM89.83 million previously.

Consumer products accounted for 94.40 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (325.00 million), construction (70.08 million), trade and services (570.02 million), technology (81.89 million), infrastructure ( 4.08 million), SPAC (3.81 million), finance (49.88 million), hotels (3.88 million), properties (69.22 million), plantations (13.42 million), mining (134,100), REITs (11.79 million), and closed/fund (7,000).

For further information on stocks and prices, please visit www.bursamalaysia.com.