Bursa Malaysia eases on profit-taking (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower today on persistent profit-taking, taking the cue from regional stock markets, a dealer said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended 0.24%, or 4.58 points, lower at 1,857.87 from Tuesday's close of 1,862.45.
The key index opened 3.92 points weaker at 1,858.53 and moved between 1,855.12 and 1,861.25 throughout the day.
Market breadth was negative with 652 losers against 251 gainers, 360 counters unchanged, 648 untraded and 65 others suspended.
Volume rose to 2.08 billion units valued at RM1.81 billion from 2.03 billion units valued at RM1.93 billion on Tuesday.
A dealer said the regional stock markets fell following the decline in the US technology sector which brought the major averages down.
He said issues such as the controversy surrounding the social media company, Facebook, which had allegedly failed to protect the privacy of its users and Uber's self-driving car's fatal accident recently had caused the US government to tighten its regulations on the technology sector.
"These concerns has spilled over into Malaysia, aside from the worries about a trade war between the US and China.
"However, I think this would be a temporary impact, as Malaysia's fundamentals remain intact. The ringgit is improving against the US dollar and commodity prices are doing well in the market," the dealer told Bernama today.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 1.34% to 21,031.31, Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 1.44% to 3,389.83 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 2.50% to 30,022.53.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank each fell two sen to RM10.50 and RM23.96, respectively and Petronas Chemicals eased three sen to RM8.25.
Tenaga rose eight sen to RM15.80, CIMB gained five sen to RM7.17.
Of the actively-traded stocks, Sapura Energy eased 4.5 sen to 50 sen, while Nexgram and Tiger each dipped half-a-sen to 4.5 sen and 2.5 sen, respectively.
The FBM Emas Index went down 57.27 points to 12,992.85, FBMT 100 Index fell 48.58 points to 12,788.04 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index was 53.58 points lower at 13,159.91.
The FBM 70 tumbled 117.04 points to 15,450.58 and the FBM Ace lost 110.72 points to 5,474.02.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index dipped to 39.94 points to 18,141.50, and the Plantation Index slid 32.47 points to 8,006.92.
However, the Industrial Index marginally gained 1.31 points to 3,229.25.
Main Market volume rose to 1.44 billion units worth RM1.70 billion from 1.31 billion units worth RM1.81 billion on Tuesday.
Volume on the ACE Market decreased to 318.77 million shares valued at RM48.79 million from Tuesday's 401.70 million shares valued at RM67.26 million.
Warrants' volume fell to 311.85 million units worth RM64.93 million from 321.67 million units worth RM51.77 million previously.
Consumer products accounted for 55.67 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (458.59 million), construction (63.63 million), trade and services (609.20 million), technology (48.24 million), infrastructure (6.86 million), SPAC (31.46 million), finance (42.52 million), hotels (1.36 million), properties (100.36 million), plantations (18.96 million), mining (90,100), REITs (12.94 million), and closed/fund (nil).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM161.14 per gramme, down RM1.75 from RM162.89 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama