Bursa M'sia ends lower on mild profit-taking
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower today on mild profit-taking in selected index-linked heavyweights.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 1.43 points to 1,751.64 from last Friday's close of 1,753.07.
The key index opened 0.98 of-a-point higher at 1,754.05 and moved between 1,747.62 and 1,755.20 throughout the trading session session.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers by 476 to 400 with 387 counters unchanged, 595 counters untraded and 27 others suspended.
Total volume increased to 2.4 billion shares worth RM2.16 billion from last Friday's 2.34 billion shares valued at RM3.51 billion.
Regional stocks rose following the US Republican tax cuts which aimed to boost the country's economic growth.
Malaysian Association of Technical Analysts Special Coordinator, Annis Ozleen Othman, said the top 10 counters with the largest volume were dominated by penny stocks in the trading and services counters.
"Short-term wise, we see that the index has turned into resistance to break the 1,760-level.
"We expect investors to continue to trade sideways until year-end but still within a tight range," Annis Ozleen told Bernama.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank eased four sen to RM9.50, Tenaga and Public Bank each lost six sen to RM15.38 and RM20.70 respectively, while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM7.45.
The list of actively-traded stocks included PUC, which improved 3.5 sen to 32 sen, Sapura Energy, which eased half-a-sen to 73.5 sen while Frontken added five sen to 47.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index slid 18.02 points to 12,570.82, FBMT100 Index declined 17.48 points to 12,239.36 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 2.94 points lower at 12,887.79.
The FBM 70 was 47.42 points weaker at 15,413.29 and the FBM Ace was down 27.80 points to 6,400.62.
On a sectoral basis, the Industrial Index fell 18.83 points to 3,161.33 and the Finance Index dipped 39.59 points to 16,546.92, while the Plantation Index was 11.37 points higher at 7,821.48.
The Main Market volume declined to 1.36 billion units, valued at RM1.95 billion, compared with 1.69 billion units, worth RM3.38 billion, on Friday.
Volume on the ACE Market rose to 828.80 million shares, valued at RM166.19 million, from 452.25 million shares, worth RM95.52 million previously.
Warrants volume improved to 180.88 million units, valued at RM36.46 million, from 179.11 million units, worth RM27.10 million, on Friday.
Consumer products accounted for 65.97 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (357.07 million), construction (46.40 million), trade and services (544.25 million), technology (151.77 million), infrastructure (8.42 million), SPAC (927,500), finance (39.76 million), hotels (2.57 million), properties (111.20 million), plantations (25.37 million), mining (10,000), REITs (9.42 million), and closed/fund (22,100).
The physical price of gold as at 5.00 pm stood at RM159.74/g, up 10 sen from RM159.64 at 5.00pm last friday. — Bernama