Bursa Malaysia takes a breather

BURSA Malaysia snapped its six-day winning streak to close lower yesterday on profit-taking activities in commodity-related and gaming stocks following the recent rally, said an analyst.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.23 points to 1,569.25 from Wednesday’s close of 1,571.48.

The benchmark index, which opened 1.81 points better at 1,573.29, moved between 1,569.03 and 1,574.45 throughout the trading session.

On the broader market, decliners beat gainers 581 to 443 while 535 counters were unchanged, 807 untraded and 22 others suspended.

Turnover declined to 3.96 billion units worth RM2.83 billion from 4.25 billion units worth RM3.03 billion on Wednesday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the key regional indices were also mostly lower following a mixed performance on Wall Street, which was hit by the slide in technology stocks.

He said investors are adopting a wait-and-see approach ahead of the global earnings season.

“Meanwhile, Meta Platforms Inc.’s disappointing outlook has sparked concerns about whether the industry, which has fuelled the bull market in equities, has stretched too thin.

“Interest is now directed towards the Bank of Japan as its two-day monetary policy meeting got underway on Thursday,” he told Bernama.