Bursa M'sia ends lower
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower today, weighed down by the selling of bluechips led by finance and trade and services stocks, while in line with the performance of most Southeast Asian peers, dealers said.
At close, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 2.90 points lower at 1,761.13, after moving between 1,758.54 and 1,762.64 throughout the day.
It opened 3.34 points lower at 1,760.69 from Monday's close of 1,764.03.
Market breadth was negative as losers led gainers 418 to 400 with 428 counters unchanged, 605 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Volume declined to 2.78 billion units worth RM1.65 billion from the 2.82 billion units valued at RM1.71 billion recorded on Monday.
A dealer said Asian share prices were mixed, while on Southeast Asian stock markets, they were mostly lower in taking cue from the softer overnight performance of Wall Street.
Investors stayed away from riskier assets, awaiting market direction ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes on Wednesday for clues on US rate increases, as well as trade data from China this week.
Concerns over geopolitical risks involving North Korea, also took centre stage, as the country is widely expected to conduct another missile test within the next ten days to mark two major political events.
Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 improved 0.64 % to 20,823.51, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.58 % to 28,490.83, South Korea's Kospi rose 1.64 % to 2,433.81, the Singapore Straits Times index declined 0.18 % to 3,285.53 and the Jakarta Composite Index fell 0.18 % to 5,904.30.
Among heavyweights, Sime Darby bagged two sen to RM9.14, Petronas Chemicals bagged one sen to RM7.34, Maybank eased one sen to RM9.54, while TNB and Public Bank were flat at RM14.24 and RM20.56 respectively.
Of the actives, Hibiscus added three sen to 71.5 sen, Vivocom edged up half-a-sen to 14.5 sen, M3 Technologies gained 2.5 sen to 14.5 sen, M3 Technologies warrant improved one sen to 6.5 sen, while Tiger Synergy eased half-a-sen at 4.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was down 7.36 points to 12,586.91, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 8.68 points to 12,235.77, the FBM 70 rose 32.25 points to 15,144.48, the FBM Ace increased 36.52 points to 6,797.47 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 23.13 points to 12,877.87.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 23.01 points better at 7,938.31, the Industrial Index added 14.68 points to 3,228.01, while the Finance Index declined 69.24 points to 16,500.89.
The Main Market volume declined to 1.50 billion units worth RM1.44 billion compared with 1.71 billion units valued at RM1.53 billion on Monday.
Volume on the ACE Market increased to 1.13 billion shares valued at RM193.03 million from 983.99 million shares valued at RM161.66 million.
Warrants volume was higher at 138.82 million units worth RM15.69 million from 129.72 million units worth RM15.40 million.
Consumer products accounted for 89.51 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (358.31 million), construction (106.41 million), trade and services (574.87 million), technology (54.96 million), infrastructure (7.79 million), SPAC (1.73 million), finance (30.21 million), hotels (2.81 million), properties (238.36 million), plantations (34.07 million), mining (8,100), REITs (3.61 million) and closed/fund (37,300).
Gold up 49 sen at RM169.30/g at 5.00pm.
The physical price of gold as at 5.00pm stood at RM169/g, up 49 sen from RM168.81 at 5.00pm today. — Bernama