Bursa M'sia ends lower
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower today, dragged down by selling in blue-chips led by Genting and telecommunication stocks, as well as in line with the performance of most Southeast Asian peers, dealers said.
At the close, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 3.92 points lower at 1,757.90, after moving between 1,752.90 and 1,762.97 throughout the day.
It opened 0.01 of a point easier at 1,761.12 from Tuesday's close of 1,761.13.
On the broader market, losers and gainers stood at 419 each with 420 counters unchanged, 593 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Volume increased to 3.18 billion units worth RM2.31 billion from 2.78 billion units valued at RM1.65 billion on Tuesday.
A dealer said major Asian bourses rallied today, taking the cue from the strong Wall Street overnight performance, where indices scaled record highs, indicating confidence in the US economy and ahead the Federal Reserve minutes to be published later today.
Meanwhile, on Southeast Asian stock markets, they were mostly lower except that of Thailand.
Inter-Pacific Securities Head of Research Pong Teng Siew said Malaysian, Indonesian and Philippine stocks saw an unusual development of fund outflows in contrast with Thai stocks which had trended up for almost two months.
"This indicates that a shift in foreign funds interest to Thailand from other regional peers," he told Bernama.
On the local front, continued selling of Genting and telecommunication stocks today dragged down the barometer index, while the small capital stocks remained supported on a speculative play, he added.
Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 improved 0.28 % to 20,881.27, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.36 % to 28,389.57, South Korea's Kospi rose one percent to 2,458, the Singapore Straits Times Index declined 0.48 % to 3,273.06, and the Jakarta Composite Index fell 0.39 % to 5,882.79.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM9.55, TNB shed four sen to RM14.20, Sime Darby slipped five sen to RM9.09, Petronas Chemicals slid two sen to RM7.32, while Public Bank was flat RM20.56.
Of the actives, Key Asia rose 10.5 sen to 27 sen, M3 Technologies warrant edged up half-a-sen to one sen, Hibiscus added 1.5 sen to 73 sen, Diversified Gateway gained one sen to 4.5 sen, while Tiger Synergy was flat at 4.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was down 8.40 points to 12,578.51, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 10.19 points to 12,225.58 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 12.07 points to 12,865.80.
The FBM 70 jumped 51.08 points to 15,195.56 and the FBM Ace gained 1.12 points to 6,798.59.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index eased 0.18 of a point to 7,938.13, the Industrial Index slid 4.74 points to 3,223.27, while the Finance Index advanced 27.68 points to 16,528.57.
The Main Market volume expanded to 2.06 billion units worth RM2.15 billion compared with 1.50 billion units valued at RM1.44 billion on Tuesday.
Volume on the ACE Market decreased to 974.99 million shares valued at RM146.96 million from 1.13 billion shares valued at RM193.03 million.
Warrants volume was higher at 142.10 million units worth RM15.02 million from 138.82 million units worth RM15.69 million.
Consumer products accounted for 61.86 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (449.18 million), construction (80.78 million), trade and services (596.75 million), technology (500.20 million), infrastructure (4.09 million), SPAC (12.06 million), finance (49.71 million), hotels (305,500), properties (251.45 million), plantations (45.26 million), mining (7,000), REITs (5.16 million), and closed/fund (3,000).
Gold down 13 sen at RM169.17/g at 5.00pm
The physical price of gold as at 5.00pm stood at RM169.17/g, down 13 sen from RM169.30 at 5.00pm, today. — Bernama