Bursa Malaysia closes lower on lastminute selling

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia failed to sustain the buying momentum seen most of the day and closed lower on last-minute selling.

At the close, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ( FBM KLCI) went down 2.22 points to 1,848.2 from Monday’s close of 1,850.42.

The index opened 6.8 points higher at 1,857.22 and moved between 1,848.2 and 1,860.59 throughout the day.

A dealer said given the fluid domestic political situation, investors were seen switching their exposure from construction to consumer, oil and gas and export-related counters.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank fell 80 sen to RM24, TNB eased eight sen to RM15.92 and Petronas Chemicals lost 10 sen to RM8.60.

CIMB edged up 20 sen to RM6.75 while Maybank was flat at RM10.80.

Among the actives, Advance Synergy rose nine sen to 22.5 sen, Sino Hua-an and Priceworth gained 3.5 sen each to 47 sen and 26.5 sen, respectively, and Eduspec climbed three sen to 12.5 sen.

Sapura Energy lost three sen to 81.5 sen.

Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 561 to 499, with 326 counters unchanged, 483 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Volume fell to 4.31 billion units, valued at RM4.44 billion, from yesterday’s 6.58 billion units valued at RM7.31 billion.

The FBM Emas Index erased 11 points to 12,879.37, the FBM Ace fell 47.58 points to 5,474.74 and the FBMT 100 Index eased 6.55 points to 12,679.57.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 30.98 points to 13,040.54 and the FBM 70 was 22.11 points higher at 15,176.07.

Sector- wise, the Finance Index increased 11.57 points to 18,202.46, the Industrial Index perked 17.27 points to 3,285.46 and the Plantation Index jumped 82.13 points to 7,988.21.

Main Market volume decreased to 3.03 billion shares, worth RM4.22 billion, from Monday’s 4.59 billion shares valued at RM6.98 billion.

Warrants volume contracted to 693.48 million units, valued at RM92.02 mi l lion, from yesterday’s 1.28 billion units worth RM165.53 million.

Volume on the ACE Market declined to RM576.48 million shares, worth RM129.95 million, from 696.72 million shares valued at RM159.43 million previously.

Consumer products accounted for 37.83 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products ( 524.46 mi l lion) , construction ( 306.8 million), trade and services (1.53 billion), technology ( 164.46 million), infrastructure ( 34.68 million), SPAC ( 8.11 million), finance ( 109.93 million), hotels ( 4.87 million), properties ( 260.78 million), plantations ( 47.31 million), mining ( 31,200), REITs ( 6.67 million), and closed/fund ( 243,000).

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