Bursa Malaysia ends lower for second day running
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower for a second consecutive day on Tuesday with the key index falling 0.92 per cent, as sentiment turned ji ery with investors trimming their positions ahead of the 15th General Election (GE15), said a dealer.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 13.46 points to end at 1,450.54 compared to Monday’s close of 1,464.00.
The market bellwether opened 2.49 points easier at 1,461.51, its intraday low, and hit its day's high of 1,447.87 in the early morning session.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 541 to 332, while 376 counters were unchanged, 1,076 untraded, and 13 others suspended.
Turnover eased to 2.78 billion units valued at RM1.68 billion versus 2.80 billion units valued at RM1.57 billion on Monday.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong expects the cautious sentiment to linger towards the end of the week as investors may adopt the wait-and-see approach until the outcome of the GE15.
At the same time, the focus would also be centered on the ongoing quarterly reporting season, he told Bernama.
“We noticed that the healthcare sector (-2.3 per cent) snapped a seven-day winning streak to underperform the most in a negatively broader market as profit-taking activities kicked in.
“Technically, the FBM KLCI's immediate resistance is spo ed at 1,465, while the near-term support is seen at 1,440,” said Leong.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng reckons the selldown over the past few days offers buying opportunity for investors amid the strong inflow of foreign funds.
Hence, Thong anticipates the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,450 to 1,480 range for the week with immediate resistance at 1,470 and support at 1,420.
On the bourse, heavyweights Maybank slipped nine sen to RM8.50, Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.37, Petronas Chemicals dropped 10 sen to RM8.62, CIMB fell eight sen to RM5.41, and IHH Healthcare shed three sen to RM5.96.