KL shares succumb to selling pressure

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower yesterday on continued selling pressure amid concerns over the two-day US Federal Reserve (Fed) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which is expected to give further signal on policy tightening, a dealer said.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ( FBM KLCI) ended at 1,852.03, down 18.34 points from Monday’s close of 1,870.37.

It opened 10.91 points weaker at 1,859.46 and moved between 1,842.56 and 1,860.82 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 551 to 311, while 381 counters were unchanged, 612 untraded and 16 others suspended.

Volume stood at 2.1 billion units valued at RM2.44 billion.

The dealer said the Fed was expected to announce its decision earlier today (Malaysian time) on whether to keep the interest rates at the current rates or increase it.

“We will likely see the Fed keeping its lending rate at the current rate and only increase in the June FOMC meeting. The expectation came after a survey was made suggesting inflationary pressures are building."

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei fell 35.25 points or 0.16 per cent to 22,472.78 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng decreased 84.57 points (0.27 per cent) to 30,723.88.

Finance-related stocks were among the counters that were affected following a report that loans growth in March 2018 dipped compared with February.

“Loan applications rebounded in March but was flat on a yearon-year basis, with household applications falling for the second straight month.

“With approvals dipping, indicators point to weakness in loans growth ahead,” Kenanga Research said in a note, adding it was maintaining a neutral outlook for the banking sector.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank fell 12 sen to RM10.66, CIMB and Hong Leong declined 16 sen each to RM7.04 and RM18.84, respectively, while Public Bank rose 20 sen to RM24.

Among actives, Sumatec inched down 1.5 sen to five sen, Sapura rose seven sen to 71 sen, UMW Oil and Gas added one sen to 28 sen while Nexgram was flat at 6.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index declined 103.95 points to 12,929.74, the FBMT 100 Index lost 109.12 points to 12,743.05 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 91.22 points to 13,077.92.

The FBM 70 dipped 73.06 points to 15,379.93 and FBM Ace slipped 26.05 points to 5,259.47.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index slid 180.08 points to 18,182.31, the Industrial Index eased 16.53 points to 3,209.88 while the Plantation Index lost 42.71 points to 7,933.13.

Market volume rose to 1.36 billion shares worth RM2.31 billion from 973.86 million shares worth RM1.69 billion on Monday.

Warrants volume increased to 476.85 million units worth RM83.52 million from 418.59 million units valued at RM91.30 million.

Volume on the ACE Market dropped to 248.98 million shares worth RM41.26 million from 311.14 million shares worth RM48.65 million previously.

Consumer products accounted for 49.77 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products ( 257.47 million), construction ( 48.45 million), trade and services ( 797.17 million), technology ( 54.77 million), infrastructure ( 8.70 million), SPAC (2.90 million), finance (65.05 million), hotels ( 200,200), properties ( 43.51 million), plantations ( 21.48 million), mining (14,000), REITs (9.96 million) and closed/fund (171,600).

The market was closed on Tuesday for the Labour Day public holiday.

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