Bursa Malaysia ends mixed, regional shares muted

KUALA LUMPUR: Trading on Bursa Malaysia was mixed yesterday amidst the muted regional markets, as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea’s markets were closed for their respective national holidays, as well as investors taking profit ahead of the weekend.

At the closing bell, the FBM KLCI added 3.53 points to 1,500 from 1,496.77 recorded at Thursday’s close.

The index opened 1.93 points lower and hovered between 1,489.66 and 1,501.85 throughout the day.

The broader market was negative as losers surpassed gainers 669 to 373, while 393 counters were unchanged, 662 untraded and 23 others suspended.

Total volume increased to 5.47 billion shares worth RM4.08 billion from 4.91 billion shares worth RM2.60 billion yesterday.

The upcoming week may see cautious trading following news that the United States (US) President Donald Trump and his wife Melania had tested positive for the Covid-19 virus, exacerbating the uncertainties in the runup to the US presidential elections next month.

Market movement yesterday was weighed down mainly by plantation counters, following the US Customs and Border Protection’s decision to impose a Withhold Release Order on palm oil and palm oil products from FGV Holdings Bhd, putting other plantation stocks at risk.

However, plantation heavyweights such as Sime Darby Plantation and IOI Corp rebounded at the close, rising by four sen to RM4.83 and one sen to RM4.40, respectively, thus saving the index from further losses.

Healthcare counters continued to capture strong interest with the rising global tally of positive Covid-19 cases.

Hartalega increased RM1.24 to RM17.50 while Top Glove was 33 sen higher at RM8.76.

At the close, heavyweights Maybank declined seven sen to RM7.11, Public Bank shed four sen to RM15.75, Petronas Chemicals eased five sen to RM5.60 and IHH was eight sen lower at RM5.

Of the actives, XOX gained half-a-sen to 12 sen, Vsolar was down half-a-sen to 3.5 sen and Iris Corp slid 1.5 sen to 31 sen.

The list of top losers was led by Nestle which declined 90 sen to RM139.60, followed by Greatech Technology which dropped 24 sen to RM6.68, Pharmaniaga which shed 17 sen to RM4.53, while Imaspro was 16 sen lower at RM2.15.

Meanwhile, the list of top gainers was headed by three healthcare-linked counters - Hartalega jumped RM1.24 to RM17.50, Kossan Rubber soared RM1.12 to RM14.62 and Supermax was 56 sen higher at RM8.98.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 23.08 points to 10,821.70, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 69.06 points to 12,921.63 and the FBM 70 added 47.33 points to 14,198.98.