Bursa Malaysia ends lower on selling pressure

BURSA Malaysia closed lower yesterday, weighed by selling pressure in telecommunication, plantation, and gaming stocks.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI declined by 4.85 points to 1,537.54 from Friday’s close of 1,542.39.

The benchmark index opened 2.16 points lower at 1,540.23, and moved in a tight range between 1,532.73 and 1,540.23 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers beat gainers 587 to 476, while 456 counters were unchanged, 817 untraded, and 37 others suspended.

Turnover fell to 3.59 billion units worth RM2.49 billion from 5.08 billion units worth RM2.69 billion on Friday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the the FBM KLCI faced selling pressure as investors shifted their focus on small-cap stocks in the transportation & logistics, property, and construction sectors.

“Major regional indices also ended lower as sentiment remained cautious ahead of key economic readings this week, including China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index and US inflation data,” he told Bernama.

Thong advised investors to proceed with caution and consider external factors such as increasing market risks and elevated volatility in global markets.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank added 3.0 sen to RM9.62, Public Bank was flat at RM4.24, while CIMB Group declined 5.0 sen to RM6.50, Tenaga Nasional slid 6.0 sen to RM11.50, and Petronas Chemicals eased 1.0 sen to RM6.78.

As for the actives, Velesto Energy and TWL Holdings added half-a-sen each to 29 sen and 3 sen respectively, Eversendai Corporation gained 1 sen to 34 sen, while Sapura Energy slipped half-a-sen to 4 sen, and Alpha IVF shed 1 sen to 31 sen.