KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the day in the red, with the benchmark index falling 1.34%, due to weak market sentiment in sync with bearish regional markets.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 21.17 points to 1,551.64 from Friday’s close of 1,572.63.
After opening 14.24 points weaker at 1,558.57 this morning, the FBM KLCI moved between 1,545.63 and 1,558.59 throughout the day.
Overall market breadth was extremely negative with losers outpacing gainers 850 to 179, while 221 counters were unchanged, 727 untraded and 21 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 3.36 billion shares worth RM2.88 billion from 1.58 billion shares worth RM1.26 billion recorded last Friday.
Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries were closed on Monday in lieu of the Chinese New Year holiday which fell on Sunday.
On the regional front, the Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 1.84% to 3,180.41, Jakarta Composite Index declined 0.36% to 6,111.18 and South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index was 3.09% weaker at 2,176.72.
In a note, Rakuten Trade said it was not an auspicious start for the regional stock markets today as the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus in Wuhan had investors scurrying for cover as many unloaded their positions, pushing down the overnight Dow Jones Industrial Average by 453 points.
It said crude oil prices also retreated on the potential negative impact of the virus outbreak on demand, with Brent crude oil trading below the US$60 per barrel level.
Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank lost seven sen to RM8.46, Public Bank declined 22 sen to RM18.96, Tenaga was 14 sen lower at RM12.74 and Petronas Chemicals decreased 28 sen to RM6.64.
While most of the heavyweights were down, healthcare stocks bucked the trend with IHH up 10 sen to RM5.89, Hartalega rose 22 sen to RM6.25 and Top Glove increased 46 sen to RM6.
Of the actives, Priceworth eased one sen to two sen, Careplus gained 16 sen to 39.5 sen and Supermax added 25 sen to RM1.86.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index was 177.02 points lower at 11,069.64, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 172.19 points to 11,795.94 and the FBMT 100 Index declined 166.05 points to 10,866.28.
The FBM 70 dropped 285.86 points to 13,936.37 and the FBM ACE decreased 112.62 points to 5,567.78.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 3.71 points to 148.24, the Financial Services Index fell 217.26 points to 14,885.81 and the Plantation Index dipped 235.43 points to 7,189.32.
Main Market volume swelled to 2.27 billion shares worth RM2.60 billion from 945.59 million shares worth RM1.13 billion last Friday.
Warrants turnover increased to 353.10 million units worth RM46.81 million from 307.88 million units worth RM48.22 million.
Volume on the ACE Market expanded to 739.39 million shares worth RM240.59 million from 334.04 million shares worth RM89.33 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 443.43 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (479.35 million), construction (184.47 million), technology (147.69 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (56.07 million), property (124.29 million), plantations (76.77 million), REITs (11.26 million), closed/fund (20,900), energy (420.71 million), healthcare (193.33 million), telecommunications and media (23.78 million), transportation and logistics (74.86 million) and utilities (35.75 million). - Bernama
