Bursa lower as investors take profit

BURSA Malaysia ended lower yesterday on profit-taking activities after Friday’s gains. However, the pressure was capped by buying in finance-related counters following Bank Negara Malaysia’s decision to trim the statutory reserve requirement ratio from 3.5 per cent to three per cent.

Hong Leong Bank rose 14 sen to RM17.20, Public Bank added six sen to RM20, Maybank gained two sen to RM8.85 and AMMB improved four sen to RM4.18.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 1.58 points to 1,608.15 compared with Friday’s close of 1,609.73.

The key index opened 0.93 of-apoint higher at 1,610.66 and moved between 1,601.99 and 1,611.43 throughout the day.

Losers outpaced gainers 553 to 291, with 396 counters unchanged, 753 untraded and 17 others suspended. Volume narrowed to 2.37 billion shares worth RM1.64 billion from 3.11 billion shares worth RM2.15 billion on Friday.

Among the heavyweights, TNB and CIMB slipped four sen each to RM13.80 and RM5.36, respectively, and IHH was seven sen weaker at RM5.44.

Of the actives, Sapura Energy inched down half-a-sen to 29 sen and Velesto Energy fell one sen to 38.5 sen while Trive Property was flat at 1.5 sen.

Among the top gainers, F&N jumped 36 sen to RM35, PetDag added 24 sen to RM23.96 and Petra

Energy rose 19 sen to RM1.64.

The FBM Emas Index erased 5.73 points to 11,389.99, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 2.05 points to 11,205.01 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 8.5 points to 11,885.27. The FBM ACE contracted 95.75 points to 4,884.66 but the FBM 70 was 34.47 points firmer at 14,137.03.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 5.84 points to 15,777.39, the Industrial Products & Services Index edged up 0.50 of-apoint to 155.45 and the Plantation Index slid 6.95 points to 6,868.20.

Main Market volume fell to 1.61 billion shares worth RM1.47 billion from 2.19 billion shares worth RM1.92 billion on Friday.

Warrants turnover increased to 383.16 million units worth RM73.16 million versus 285.73 million units worth RM56.94 million.

Volume on the ACE Market plunged to 380.56 million worth RM91.58 million from 624.02 million units worth RM167.85 million previously.

The FBM KLCI futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed lower yesterday.

Spot month November 2019 fell 2.5 points to 1,608.50, December 2019 slipped two points to 1,610, March 2020 dipped 3.5 points to 1,605.5 and June 2020 was six points lower at 1,601.50.

Turnover declined to 6,079 lots from 6,713 on Friday, while open interest decreased to 33,139 contracts from 34,711 previously.