Bursa Malaysia ends lower, Top Glove weighs on KLCI

KUALA LUMPUR: Persistent profit taking and selling activities mainly in blue-chips caused a reversal of Tuesday’s big gains and dragged Bursa Malaysia to finish lower.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ( FBM KLCI) swung between mild gains and losses during the day before ending 3.54 points down at 1,598.72 compared to Tuesday’s close of 1,602.26.

The index opened 2.23 points higher at 1,604.49 and moved between 1,592.93 and 1,605.60.

On the broader market, gainers outpaced losers 640 to 557 while 503 counters were unchanged, 409 untraded and 16 others suspended. Volume increased to 9.22 billion units worth RM5.43 billion from 9.19 billion units worth RM5.35 billion on Tuesday.

Top Glove contributed much of the losses on Bursa Malaysia following news of possible charges against it. It was among the companies facing charges for violating the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 466).

In addition, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said some investors booked profits on the US stocks’ stellar run to record highs.

Overnight, US stocks rose as the Dow gained 0.6 per cent while S&P500 added 1.1 per cent and Nasdaq rose 1.3 per cent to hit fresh records, ignited by economic recovery hopes following Pfizer and BioNTech’s application for regulatory approval for their Covid-19 vaccine in the European Union.

“Hopes for additional US economic stimulus and a coronavirus vaccine kept market sentiment well supported,” he told Bernama.

Other Asian markets also retraced early gains with Singapore’s Straits Times Index losing 0.23 per cent to 2,807.68, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index going down 0.13 per cent to 26,532.58 and Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index dropping 0.07 per cent to 3,449.38.

In addition, markets are also cautious ahead of the decision by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its allies on their output policy, scheduled to be announced tomorrow.

Among the heavyweights, Top Glove lost 11 sen to RM6.68, Axiata fell eight sen to RM3.70, Dialog decreased nine sen to RM3.61, and Sime Darby Plantation was five sen easier at RM5.03.

As for the banking counters, Maybank gained eight sen to RM8.27, Hong Leong Bank was 22 sen higher at RM18.12 and CIMB gained four sen to RM3.79. Petronas Dagangan increased 52 sen to RM21.20. Among the actives, Bioalpha dropped 4.5 sen to 31 sen, AT Systematization inched down 1.5 sen to 19.5 sen and Lambo rose half-a-sen to four sen.