Bursa Malaysia eases on nervousness over direction of US economic, foreign policies

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed at an intra-day low today on nervousness over the direction of US economic and foreign policies, leaving the local bourse in the red throughout the day, dealers said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed 11.79 points easier at 1,845.27 from 1,857.06 on Wednesday's close.
After opening 2.94 points weaker at 1,854.12 this morning, the index moved between 1,845.27 and 1,854.12 throughout the day.
FXTM Research Analyst, Lukman Otunuga, said investors started today's trading session with caution after the sudden dismissal of US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, stimulated fears of rising US protectionism.
"Asian stock markets ventured into the negative territory during early trading, following overnight losses on Wall Street. Although shares in Europe held steady, thanks to dovish comments from Mario Draghi, an absence of risk appetite could result in further downside pressure.
"With reports that the US is seeking to impose tariffs on Chinese imports likely to weigh heavily on sentiment, Wall Street remains vulnerable to further losses," he said.
Market breadth was negative as losers led gainers by 513 to 410 with 402 counters unchanged, 571 untraded and 32 others suspended.
Volume rose to 2.87 billion units worth RM2.46 billion from 2.32 billion units worth RM2.06 billion on Wednesday.
Among heavyweights, Maybank declined eight sen to RM10.36, CIMB and IHH Healthcare were two sen lower each at RM7.22 and RM6.06, respectively.
Tenaga rose two sen to RM15.66 and Petronas Chemicals increased five sen to RM8.15. Public Bank were flat at RM23.00.
Of the active counters, Sapura Energy improved eight sen to 49 sen, UMW Oil & Gas Corp rose two sen to 32 sen, Advance Synergy was 2.5 sen higher at 17.5 sen, while YFG and NWP Holdings were 1.5 sen lower at half-a-sen and 32.5 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index decreased 56.4 points to 13,025.31, FBMT 100 Index was 59.31 points lower at 12,771.34 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 52.06 points to 13,186.57.
The FBM 70 rose 3.21 points to 15,670.16. The FBM Ace edged down 4.36 points to 5,896.01.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Index trimmed 10.44 points to 3,248.03, Plantation Index declined 17.77 points to 8,038.65 and the Finance Index was 148.89 points lower at 18,016.86.
The Main Market volume increased to 1.99 billion units worth RM2.32 billion from 1.47 billion units worth RM1.92 billion on Wednesday.
Volume on the ACE Market decreased to 464.51 million shares valued at RM86.92 million from 522.16 million shares valued at RM90.59 million yesterday.
Warrants' volume rose to 420.98 million units worth RM54.65 million from 315.33 million units worth RM50.27 million previously.
Consumer products accounted for 104.34 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (410.39 million), construction (70.25 million), trade and services (1.12 billion), technology (69.34 million), infrastructure (6.59 million), SPAC (2.12 million), finance (67.6 million), hotels (344,000), properties (94.9 million), plantations (25.68 million), mining (403,500), REITs (10.68 million), and closed/fund (12,100).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM161.16 per gramme, up 37 sen from RM160.79 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama