Bursa Malaysia reverses earlier gains to end lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia reversed earlier gains to close in negative territory, with the benchmark index falling below the 1,400-psychological mark due to a lack of buying support, said an analyst.

At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 4.39 points, or 0.31 per cent, to settle at 1,397.5 after opening 5.5 points higher at 1,407.39.

The benchmark index, which opened 5.5 points higher at 1,407.39, moved between 1,395.81 and 1,410.76 throughout the day.

On the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers 499 to 343, while 412 counters were unchanged, 1,147 untraded, and 57 others suspended.

Total turnover increased to 2.28 billion units worth RM1.86 billion from Wednesday’s 2.14 billion units worth RM2.06 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vicepresident of equity research Thong Pak Leng expects investors’ sentiment to remain jittery for the moment due to continuous selling by foreign funds and external factors such as increasing market risks and volatility in global markets amid the multi-year high inflation in the United States.

“On the other hand, the FBM KLCI remained in an oversold position after recent heavy selldowns. We expect the benchmark index to consolidate within the range of 1,390-1,405 towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, key regional indices ended mixed despite overnight gains on Wall Street.

“Gains are capped by growing fears that aggressive interest rate hikes this year by the US Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia to cool inflation that is at multidecade highs might tip the global economy into recession,” said Thong.

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.14 per cent to 3,120.79, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index widened 0.95 per cent to 26,422.05, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.49 per cent to 17,165.87 and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index went down 0.58 per cent to 7,036.20.

Among Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweight stocks, Petronas Chemicals added two sen to RM8.39, CIMB advanced four sen to RM5.15, Maybank and Press Metal were flat at RM8.56 and RM4, respectively, while Public Bank slipped six sen to RM4.20, IHH Healthcare shed one sen to RM5.92 and TNB dipped 15 sen to RM8.25.

Of the actives, PT Resources and MY E.G. went up two sen each to 43.5 sen and 85.5 sen, NWP was flat at 24.5 sen, Top Glove and Velesto both edged down half-a-sen to 58.5 sen and 11 sen, while Cnergenz gave up four sen to RM1.04.