Bursa weighed by indexlinked glove makers

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower yesterday with the key index weighed down by indexlinked glove makers amid the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI ( FBM KLCI) fell 8.91 points to finish at 1,634.99 after moving between 1,630.83 and 1,645.76 throughout the day.

The index opened 0.47 of-a-point higher at 1,644.37, compared to Monday’s closing of 1,643.90.

The overall market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 601 to 558, while 474 counters were unchanged, 495 untraded and 22 others suspended.

Total volume increased to 9.17 billion units worth RM4.22 billion from Monday’s 8.71 billion units worth RM3.90 billion.

Glove makers, Top Glove trimmed 25 sen to RM6.01, Hartalega slipped 52 sen to RM11.94 and Supermax fell 33 sen to RM6.06.

As for other heavyweights, Maybank gained four sen to RM8.58, IHH Healthcare added two sen to RM5.74, CIMB increased five sen to RM4.35, TNB was flat at RM10.58, Public Bank decreased eight sen to RM20.70, Hong Leong Bank dipped 12 sen to RM18.48 and Maxis shed two sen to RM5.05.

Among the actives, Techna-X rose three sen to 17 sen, Mestron edged up half-a-sen to 22 sen, Yong Tai advanced five sen to 32.5 sen, Puncak Niaga perked up 7.5 sen to 47.5 sen, Sarawak Cable surged 17.5 sen to 52 sen, while Iris Corp and AT Systematization inched down half-a-sen each to 43.5 sen and 19.5 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM 70 climbed 26.44 points to 15,223.93, the FBM Emas Index was 41.32 points easier at 11,806.69, the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 41.99 points to 11,558.66, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 77.21 points to 13,178.54.

The Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.10 points to 176.05, the Plantation Index declined 36.88 points to 7,394.13 but the Financial Services Index rose 25.12 points to 15,453.41.