Bursa Malaysia ends in negative territory

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended Monday’s trading in negative territory, in line with some Asian peers and amid an escalating US-China trade war.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ( FBM KLCI) was 0.34 of-a-point weaker at 1,779.75 from Friday’s close of 1,780.09.

The index opened 1.67 points firmer at 1,781.76 and hovered between 1,777.78 and 1,782.19 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers overtook gainers 467 to 309, while 492 counters were unchanged, 626 untraded and 31 others suspended.

Volume rose to 2.12 billion units worth RM1.70 billion from 1.84 billion units worth RM1.57 billion last Friday.

Regionally, China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.29 per cent to 2,705.16, Japan’s Nikkei declined 0.08 per cent to 22,507.32 and South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index was 0.05 per cent easier at 2,286.50.

Mercury Securities Sdn Bhd analyst Danny Oh Boon Yeow said Bursa Malaysia was influenced by the tepid regional performance, especially after Chinese shares turned negative, following the ongoing trade conflict between the two economic giants.

He said Bursa Malaysia was also not spared the tepid sentiment as the trade friction had hurt investors’ risk appetite.

“The concerns are there, but theoretically, the local bourse should benefit from the trade war in the short term due to Malaysia’s strong economic fundamentals,” he told Bernama.

Last Saturday, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad also opined that Malaysia was likely to benefit from the trade war between China and the US in terms of attracting foreign investors.

He said policies implemented in the trade war would benefit investors who could not invest in certain countries, thus benefiting those who were not involved.

Of the heavyweights, Petronas Gas dropped 46 sen to RM18.62, Maxis and Digi trimmed six sen each to RM5.62 and RM4.52 respectively, IHH Healthcare was four sen lower at RM5.86 and Hong Leong Financial lost 26 sen to RM17.88.

Among actives, Nova MSC was flat at 18 sen, MyEG added five sen to RM1.22, Frontken climbed four sen to 60 sen, Key Asic improved two sen to 21.5 sen, while Sapura Energy edged down one sen to 58.5 sen.

United Plantations topped the losers list in declining 86 sen to RM27.02, followed by Hong Leong Industries falling 42 sen to RM11.06, while BAT and BLD Plantation lost 22 sen each to RM33.78 and RM7.06 respectively.

The FBM Emas Index was 15.18 points lower at 12,585.30, the FBMT 100 Index slid 16.23 points to 12,371.42 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 35.77 points to 12,708.69.

The FBM 70 shrank 71.75 points to 15,390.62 and the FBM Ace Index dropped 47.71 points to 5,398.33.

Sector- wise, the Industrial Index retreated 13.05 points at 3,263.07, but the Plantation Index rose 3.61 points to 7,627.0 and the Finance Index was 28.63 points better at 17,469.10.

Main Market volume increased to 1.15 billion shares worth RM1.50 billion from 1.02 billion shares valued at RM1.41 billion last Friday.

Warrants turnover was higher at 428.44 million units worth RM112.82 million versus 327.89 million units worth RM91.92 million.

Volume on the ACE Market improved to 534.81 million shares worth RM88.39 million against 492.31 million shares worth RM75.47 million.

Consumer products accounted for 78.08 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (176.30 million), construction (104.59 million), trade and services ( 445.33 million), technology (116.95 million), infrastructure (18.05 million), SPAC (253,600), finance (43.50 million), hotels (1.90 million), properties (148.51 million), plantations (17.96 million), mining (3,700), REITs (7.84 million) and closed/fund (1,000).

For further information on stocks and prices, please visit www.bursamalaysia.com.