Bursa Malaysia ends lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower for the second consecutive day on continuous selling activities in index-linked counters.
At the close, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) trimmed 11.64 points or 0.66% to 1,764.16, after opening 0.95 of-a-point easier at 1,774.85 against Monday's close of 1,775.8.
The index moved between 1,764.16 and 1,776.1 throughout the day.
On the broader market, losers led gainers by 571 to 309, with 382 counters unchanged, 635 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Volume eased to 2.36 billion units worth RM2.39 billion against Monday's 2.62 billion units worth RM2.40 billion.
OANDA Head of Trading in Asia-Pacific, Stephen Innes said a wall of worry slithered in the local capital market as foreign investors viewed other markets as a better risk.
"There remains this political overhang and worries about further weakness in the ringgit that have investors shying away from Bursa Malaysia. There is nothing specifically related to headlines other than the same political and fiscal policy overhang," he added.
Innes said traders were more prone to square their positions ahead of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and European Central Bank policy decisions this week.
Asked whether the weaknesses in the local market will prolong, he said the market would also monitor the direction of the US dollar vis-a-vis the Fed along with how the trade war plays out.
"I think if the Fed remains neutral in their forward guidance this will be good for local risk and the markets will rally. But if the US dollar gets stronger due to higher US interest rates this could be very negative.
"I think the Fed holds the course and this should be a slight positive for local Malaysian capital markets," he told Bernama.
The Federal Open Market Committee will start its two-day policy meeting later today.
Regionally, Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.24% to 3,434.13, Japan's Nikkei gained 0.33% to 22,878.35 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.13% to 31,103.06.
Back home, among the actively traded stocks, Sapura Energu rose three sen to 66.5 sen, MYEG inched up half-a-sen to 94.5 sen, Frontken added 2.5 sen to 47 sen and GSB went up one sen to 21.5 sen.
Meanwhile, SP Setia lost 25 sen to RM2.95 and Sime Darby Property decreased eight sen to RM1.21, after PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim reportedly said the new government will investigate the Battersea Power Station deal and other major "dubious" property investments in the UK.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank and TNB both were 16 sen lower at RM9.60 and RM14.40, respectively, Public Bank shed four sen to RM24.30, Petronas Chemicals was easier by five sen at RM8.33 and CIMB shelved eight sen to RM6.13.
The FBM Emas Index eased weakened 84.19 points to 12,378.69, the FBMT 100 Index fell 85.93 points to 12,173.62 and the FBM Ace reduced 50.92 points to 5,266.73.
The FBM Emas Syariah Index slipped 79.01 points to 12,423.92 and the FBM 70 lost 123.66 points to 14,813.14.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index slumped 126.6 points to 17,629.56, the Industrial Index slid 5.69 points to 3,188.21 and the Plantation Index went down by 31.87 points to 7,706.33.
Main Market volume was slightly higher at 1.57 billion shares worth RM2.22 billion versus 1.54 billion shares worth RM2.15 billion on Monday.
Warrants volume decreased to 499.26 million units valued at RM99.60 million from 661.61 million units valued at RM180.17 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market fell to 283.77 million shares valued at RM64.57 million against 415.05 million shares valued at RM77.22 million.
Consumer products accounted for 30.39 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (147.70 million), construction (145.0 million), trade and services (871.21 million), technology (110.14 million), infrastructure (23.48 million), SPAC (3.11 million), finance (62.87 million), hotels (2.32 million), properties (140.02 million), plantations (31.86 million), mining (5,000), REITs (5.69 million) and closed/fund (9,000).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM160.92 per gramme, up 23 sen from RM160.69 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama