Bursa ends lower, CI down 1.25 pts

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia, which was on a choppy trend yesterday, ended lower as losses in key heavyweights weighed on the benchmark index.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 1.25 points to close at 1,745.75 from Thursday’s close of 1,747.00.

The benchmark index moved between 1,745.43 and 1,749.61 throughout the day, after opening 1.15 points higher at 1,748.15 earlier.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers by 589 to 312, with 355 counters unchanged, 473 untraded and 24 others were suspended.

Volume declined to 3.69 billion units worth RM2.52 billion from 4.77 billion units worth RM3.66 billion yesterday.

In a note, Kenanga Research said the local index was unable to sustain its recent gains amid the overbought condition.

“While the FBM KLCI’s primary uptrend remains intact, we do not rule out the possibility that profit-taking activities will continue in the near-term,” it added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank fell one sen to RM8.99, Sime Darby declined 10 sen to RM9.40, while TNB and Public Bank were both flat at RM13.72 and RM19.96.

Of the actives, EA Holdings and Trive Property gained one sen each to eight sen and 19.5 sen, respectively, while China Automobile rose half-a-sen to three sen.

The FBM Emas Index decreased 15.25 points to 12,365.86, the FBMT100 Index fell 14.64 points to 12,017.00, and the FBM Emas Syariah Index was 24.16 points weaker 12,772.75.

The FBM 70 declined 40.36 points to 14,454.59 and the FBM Ace was 56.99 points weaker at 5,719.56.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index lost 19.84 points to 15,748.07, the Plantation Index slipped 23.77 points to 8,156.67 and the Industrial Index was 7.79 points weaker at 3,272.24.

Main Market turnover narrowed to 2.41 billion units worth RM2.32 billion from 3.25 billion units worth RM3.38 billion yesterday.

Volume on the ACE Market declined to 1.11 billion shares valued at RM179.14 million from 1.27 billion shares valued at RM244.84 million on Thursday.

Warrants decreased to 137.73 million units worth RM19.01 million from 210.18 million units worth RM27.22 million previously.

Consumer products accounted for 257.2 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (718.79 million), construction (166.36 million), trade and services (712.25 million), technology (240.63 million), infrastructure (12.51 million), SPAC (1.08 million), finance (64.6 million), hotels (2.22 million), properties (213.25 million), plantations (23.52 million), mining (nil), REITs (7.13 million), and closed/fund (2,500).