Bursa Malaysia ends lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower yesterday in line with its regional peers as sentiment remained cautious over the implementation of higher interest rates in the United States ( US) next year, dealers said.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ( FBM KLCI) finished at 1,634.30, down 3.49 points, from Friday’s close of 1,637.79.

After opening 6.06 points easier at 1,631.73, the index moved between 1,630.34 and 1,636.55 throughout the day.

Losers beat gainers 401 to 307 while 354 counters were unchanged, 658 untraded and 24 others were suspended.

Volume rose to 1.33 billion shares, worth RM1.35 billion, from 1.31 billion shares, valued at RM1.81 billion, recorded on Friday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.05 per cent to 19,391.60 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 0.85 per cent to 21,832.68 points and Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.88 per cent to 2,912.00 points.

Af f in Hwang Investment Bank Vice- President/ Head of Retail Research Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the US Federal Reserve decision to raise interest rates by 25 basis points last week, followed by further hikes next year, continued to worry investors.

He said the weak performance in the local bourse was mainly due to the outflow of foreign funds following optimism that Donald Trump would boost US growth through tax cuts and infrastructure spending.

Among heav ywei ght s , Maybank shed two sen to RM7.92 while TNB and Public Bank each fell six sen to RM13.70 and RM19.74, respectively.

Of the losers, Dutch Lady eased 98 sen to RM55.02, Lafarge Malaysia dipped 21 sen to RM7.10 and Petronas Dagangan lost 20 sen to RM23.50.

Among actives, Hibiscus Petroleum added three sen to 38.5 sen, RGB International gained 2.5 sen to 28.5 sen and Rhone Ma Holdings rose 12 sen to 87 sen.

The FBM Emas Index fell 20.49 points to 11,432.01, FBMT 100 Index declined 24.92 points to 11,155.43 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 28.36 points to 11,965.08.

The FBM 70 lost 33.18 points to 13,060.98 but the FBM Ace rose 20.05 points to 4,770.76..

Sector- wise, the Finance Index decreased 10.20 points to 14,346.34, the Plantation Index slid 38.31 points to 7,703.73 but the Industrial Index added 3.54 points to 3,087.69.

Main Market turnover rose to 996.22 million units, worth RM1.29 billion, from 885.59 million units, valued at RM1.74 billion, recorded on Friday.

The ACE Market volume declined to 155.81 million shares, worth RM24.35 million, from 197.41 million shares, worth RM24.76 million, registered previously.

Warrants fell to 177.68 million units, worth RM36.70 million, from 224.07 million units, valued at RM47.63 million, traded on Friday. — Bernama