Bursa Malaysia ends 0.95 per cent lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended in the red hitting an intra-day low, alongside other regional markets which tumbled on Wednesday as concerns over emerging market economies further dampened sentiment, a dealer said.

The ongoing news reports on emerging countries particularly South Africa, Argentina and Turkey added salt to the wound, after US President Donald Trump is said to be ready to impose tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods entering the US by the end of the week.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 17.26 points or 0.95 per cent to 1,795.50 after fluctuating between 1,795.50 and 1,807.92 throughout the day.

The index opened 7.42 points easier at 1,805.34 after closing at 1,812.76 on Tuesday.

Malaysian Association of Technical Analysts President Nik Ihsan Raja Abdullah said the local bourse was reacting to the global news, which positioned investors in a cautious stance.

“We have been seeing selling pressure for the last few days, I shall say this is a healthy correction for Bursa, especially the local market has been on an upward momentum for several months,” he told Bernama.

Nik Ihsan also said that the weaker ringgit also contributed to Bursa Malaysia’s performance.

He noted that the country will have another long weekend holiday, which also dampened investors’ mood.

For the broader market, losers thumped gainers 703 to 270, with 362 counters unchanged, 538 untraded and 24 suspended.

Volume rose to 2.91 billion units worth RM2.92 billion from Tuesday’s 2.41 billion units valued at RM2.01 billion.

Of the key index stocks, Maybank declined 12 sen to RM9.87, CIMB erased 23 sen to RM5.87, SimePLT and IHH both eased two sen to RM5.24 and RM5.49 while Genting was 17 sen lower at RM8.22.

Among actives, MyEG rose five sen to RM1.64, Pesona perked one sen to 35 sen, SapNRG lost two sen to 34 sen, BornOil reduced half-a-sen to 5.5 sen and Hibiscus shed 6.5 sen to 98.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index was 112.71 points lower at 12,566.81, the FBMT 100 Index eased 108.66 points to 12,376.31, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 65.05 points to 12,691.40, the FBM 70 declined 93.06 points to 15,005.78 and the FBM Ace Index went down 86.53 points to 5,166.02.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index trimmed 227.40 points to 17,773.91, the Plantation Index fell 22.08 points to 7,508.71 and the Industrial Index reduced 0.24 point to 3,216.03.

Main Market volume slightly increased to 1.70 billion worth RM2.57 billion, from Tuesday’s 1.54 billion shares valued at RM1.76 billion.

Warrant turnover increased to 879.91 million units worth RM277.17 million, from 588.32 million units worth RM176.3 million transacted on Tuesday.

Volume on the ACE Market increased to 328.11 million shares valued at RM69.18 million, from 278 million shares worth RM56.87 million recorded previously.

Consumer products accounted for 168.22 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (340.81 million), construction (146.57 million), trade and services (692.4 million), technology (117.35 million), infrastructure (15.69 million), SPAC (1.86 million), finance ( 77.62 million), hotels (1.74 million), properties (106.07 million), plantations (24.72 million), mining (41,500), REITs (5.55 million) and closed/fund (9,000).

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