KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed lower today, in cautious trading, ahead of the release of the country’s 2018 and fourth quarter GDP data by Bank Negara Malaysia tomorrow, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,685.3, down 2.11 points from Tuesday’s close of 1,687.41.
The index opened 0.32 of-a-point firmer at 1,687.73 and hovered between 1,683.61 and 1,688.46 throughout the day.
A dealer said Malaysia’s economy was expected to grow faster in the fourth quarter helped by exports and private consumption but the lingering uncertainty over the ongoing trade war between the United States amd China continued to weigh on market sentiment.
“Malaysia being the world’s second largest palm oil exporter is expected to be adversely affected by global trade headwinds,” he added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank shed one sen to RM9.55 while TNB and CIMB lost four sen each to RM13.06 and RM5.78, respectively.
Petronas Chemicals perked seven sen to RM8.48 while Public Bank was flat at RM24.96.
Of actives, Barakah climbed half-a-sen to 14 sen, Dagang edged-up five sen to 32.5 sen and Prestariang gained three sen to 45 sen.
Bumi Armada and Tatt Giap were flat at 22.5 sen and 10 sen, respectively.
Market breadth was negative with 468 losers and 340 gainers while 393 counters remained unchanged, 652 untraded and 23 others were suspended.
Total volume declined to 2.63 billion units valued at RM1.87 billion from Tuesday’s 2.69 billion units worth RM1.95 billion.
The FBM Emas Index eased 13.45 points to 11,714.3, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 17.239 points to 11,578.4 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 4.24 points to 11,577.2.
The FBM 70 fell 32.15 points to 13,944.22 while the FBM Ace Index rose 30.83 points to 4,647.32.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index improved 11.641 points to 17,729.65, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.44 points to 162.47 while the Plantation Index retracted 32.58 points to 7,298.51.
Main Market volume fell to 1.88 billion shares valued at RM1.7 billion against Monday’s 1.95 billion shares worth RM1.8 billion.
Warrants turnover widened to 477.65 million units valued at RM110.55 million from 386.87 million units worth RM77.53 million transacted yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market shrank to 269.16 million shares valued at RM61.34 million from 353.62 million shares worth RM81.08 million previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 218.76 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (347.63 million), construction (111.6 million), technology (354.04 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (48.9 million), property (109.16 million), plantations (30.9 million), REITs (7.33 million), closed/fund (7,000), energy (515.43 million), healthcare (34.5 million), telecommunications and media (68.48 million), transportation and logistics (23.52 million), and utilities (13.64 million). — Bernama
