Bursa Malaysia closes lower on profit-taking

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower yesterday as profittaking in selected heavyweights led by glove-maker stocks dragged the benchmark further down, dealers said.

At the close, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended 0.86 per cent or 13.62 points easier at 1,554.96 from Monday’s close of 1,568.58.

The benchmark index opened 5.23 points weaker at 1,563.35 and moved between 1,552.92 and 1,569.58 throughout the day’s session.

The overall market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 843 to 321, while 346 counters were unchanged, 524 untraded and 35 others suspended.

Total volume expanded to 10.22 billion shares worth RM7.62 billion from Monday’s 9.95 billion shares worth RM5.76 billion.

Glove-maker stocks such as Top Glove, Supermax, Kossan Rubber and Hartalega were also among the top losers, as news flow on the development of a potential Covid19 vaccine triggered profit-taking in yesterday’s trading session.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee Shen Pin said performance in the local stock market yesterday was generally driven by a potential Covid-19 vaccine, leading investors to switch more onto medical-related stocks.

“But do note that even when there is a vaccine for Covid-19, demand for gloves would still remain.

“Therefore, the pullback in glove-making stocks yesterday, which we think has also been in an oversold position, is posing an opportunity for investors to buy the shares,” he told Bernama.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank gained one sen to RM7.49, Top Glove fell RM2.50 to RM25.40, Public Bank eased two sen to RM16.96, Tenaga added two sen to RM11.02 and Hartalega dropped RM1.00 to RM16.50.

Among the actives, XOX gained 1.5 sen to 25 sen, Bintai rose 30 sen to 70.5 sen and Solution Group added 18.5 sen to 81.5 sen.

Top losers were Top Glove, Supermax -- which lost RM2.30 to RM19.80 -- and Hartalega.

Of the top gainers, Dutch Lady increased 90 sen to RM39.70, Petronas Dagangan improved 82 sen to RM21.22 and Pharmaniaga was up 69 sen at RM5.96.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 144.04 points to 11,174.01, the FBMT 100 Index was 138.39 points lower at 10,981.15, and the FBM 70 weakened 347.06 points to 14,417.85.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 238.98 points to 13,187.09 and the FBM ACE dipped 56.66 points to 10,889.16.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index added 2.06 points to 12,913.87, the Industrial Products and Services Index reduced 0.71 point to 140.58, and the Plantation Index was 17.09 points better at 7,076.34.

Main Market volume increased to 4.74 billion shares valued at RM5.58 million compared with 2.31 billion shares worth RM4.12 million on Monday.