Bursa Malaysia bucks regional trend to close lower

KUALA LUMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) settled lower on Tuesday amid an overall cautious market, in contrast to the regional markets.

At the close, the benchmark index eased 1.87 points to 1,629.46 against Monday’s closing of 1,631.33. It opened 0.25 of-a-point higher at 1,631.58 and fluctuated between 1,626.99 and 1,635.47 throughout the day.

A dealer said the market was weak due to lack of catalysts.

Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia Bhd announced that that the T+2 settlement, a part of Bursa Malaysia’s ongoing efforts to improve operational efficiency and reduce systemic risk cycle, will be launched on April 29, 2019.

The shorter settlement cycle would align the clearing and settlement processes of the Malaysian capital market with those of major global exchanges in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific, which are already operating a T+2 settlement cycle, it said in a statement yesterday.

Meanwhile, market breadth was negative with 475 losers and 355 gainers while 388 counters were unchanged, 670 were untraded and 19 others were suspended.

Volume was easier at 2.49 billion units worth RM1.79 billion against Monday’s 3.13 billion units worth RM1.75 billion.

Of the heavyweights, Public Bank added two sen to RM22.60, Petronas Chemicals increased five sen to RM8.95, Axiata gained two sen to RM4.18, Maxis was flat at RM5.56, Maybank declined four sen to RM9.21 and TNB trimmed two sen to RM12.30.

Of the actives, Karex advanced 6.5 sen to 58.5 sen, Vortex rose one sen to 19 sen, Price worth was flat at seven sen, Sapura Energy edged down half-a-sen to 33 sen, Prestariang trimmed five sen to 48 sen and Hibiscus Petroleum fell one sen to RM1.13.

The FBM Emas Index declined 17.274 points to 11,544.47, the FBMT 100 slipped 18.20 points to 11,373.41 and the FBM 70 gave up 43.75 points to 14,431.85.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 17.74 points to 11,750.86 and the FBM Ace Index climbed 14.14 points to 4,685.71.

Sector- wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 28.81 points to 16,799.61, the Plantation Index shed 14.17 points to 7,257.42, while the Industrial Products and Services Index gained 0.15 of-apoint to 168.49.

Main Market volume decreased to 1.53 billion shares worth RM1.62 billion against 1.79 billion shares worth RM1.54 billion on Monday.

Warrants turnover fell to 491.58 million units valued at RM108.37 million from 541.80 million units valued at RM131.21 million on Monday.

Volume on the ACE Market dropped to 465.64 million shares worth RM65.84 million against Monday’s 800.32 million shares worth RM80.60 million.

Consumer products and services accounted for 278.39 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services ( 233.57 million), construction ( 171.37 million), technology (188.49 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (36.02 million), property (117.74 million), plantation (40.86 million), REITs ( 7.95 million), closed/ fund (21,000), energy (375.49 million), healthcare ( 16.60 million), telecommunications and media (18.57 million), transportation and logistics (19.56 million), and utilities (27.70 million).

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