Bursa Malaysia ends mixed
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended mixed today, with the barometer index dragged down by losses in selected heavyweights led by IHH Healthcare and Tenaga Nasional, dealers said.
At the close, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 3.21 points lower at 1,754.00, after moving between 1,751.20 and 1,760.32 throughout the day.
It opened 3.11 points higher at 1,761.12 from Wednesday's close of 1,757.21.
On the broader market, gainers led losers 455 to 439 with 381 counters unchanged, 585 untraded and 36 others suspended.
Volume increased to 4.33 billion units worth RM2.39 billion from 3.18 billion units valued at RM2.31 billion on Wednesday.
A dealer said most Asian shares advanced today, taking their cue from the latest record highs on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve released somewhat dovish minutes from its September meeting ahead of key earnings from finance companies.
Chinese investors meanwhile are holding back ahead of a key communist party meeting next week.
On the local front, despite opening on a firm note, the FBM KLCI ended lower, weighed down by losses in selected heavyweights, led by trade and services stocks, while the small-capitalised stocks remained supported by retail buyers, the dealer added.
Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 improved 0.35% to 20,954.72, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.24% to 28,459.72, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.68% to 2,474.76, Singapore Straits Times Index increased 0.48% to 3,300.10, while the Shanghai Stock Exchange Index eased 0.06% to 3,386.10.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank eased two sen to RM9.53, TNB fell eight sen to RM14.12, Sime Darby slipped five sen to RM9.04, Petronas Chemicals added one sen to RM7.33 while Public Bank was flat at RM20.56.
Among active counters, Asiamet Education rose 8.5 sen to 25 sen, Hubline and Permaju Industries edged up half-a-sen each to 15.5 sen and 36 sen, respectively, MNC Wireless added 1.5 sen to 10.5 sen while Key Asic was flat at 27 sen.
The FBM Emas Index declined 12.00 points to 12,566.51, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 13.87 points to 12,211.71 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index shed 15.55 points to 12,850.25.
The FBM Ace jumped 136.78 points to 6,935.37 and the FBM 70 added 14.39 points to 15,209.95.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index gained 6.24 points to 7,944.37, the Industrial Index lost 10.63 points to 3,212.64 and the Finance Index decreased 19.45 points to 16,509.12.
The Main Market volume expanded to 2.74 billion units worth RM2.18 billion compared with 2.06 billion units valued at RM2.15 billion on Wednesday.
Volume on the ACE Market increased to 1.45 billion shares valued at RM194.51 million from 974.99 million shares valued at RM146.96 million.
Warrants volume was lower at 124.87 million units worth RM15.10 million from 142.10 million units worth RM15.02 million.
Consumer products accounted for 99.39 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (457.01 million), construction (94.33 million), trade and services (1.34 billion), technology (519.44 million), infrastructure (6.05 million), SPAC (390,000), finance (51.80 million), hotels (1.89 million), properties (126.80 million), plantations (31.07 million), mining (13,200), REITs (9.18 million), and closed/fund (103,400).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM170.03 per gramme, up 86 sen from RM169.17 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama