KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed sharply lower today, amid mixed sentiment on regional markets, weighed down by continued selling in heavyweights and finance counters, as concerns mount over the state of the ongoing US-China trade war, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed at 1,688.14 points, down 13.98 points, against yesterday’s close of 1,702.12.
The index opened 11.36 points lower at 1,690.76 at 9am and moved between 1,680.84 and 1,691.23 throughout the day.
The overall market breadth remained bearish as losers outnumbered gainers 468 to 325 while 376 counters were unchanged, 731 untraded and 25 others suspended.
Total volume dropped to 2.07 billion shares worth RM1.92 billion from yesterday’s 3.32 billion shares valued at RM2.12 billion.
A dealer said Asian stocks were traded mixed today over renewed concerns over the ongoing US-China trade negotiations, as the White House reportedly cancelled a planned trade meeting with Beijing this week.
Back home, another dealer said investors were eagerly awaiting the central bank’s first monetary policy decision on interest rate this year, scheduled to be released tomorrow.
Among heavyweights, Maybank rose three sen to RM9.54, Public Bank declined 38 sen to RM24.80, TNB shed 16 sen to RM13.54 while Petronas Chemicals fell 10 sen to RM8.42.
Of actives, Bumi Armada eased half-a-sen to 21 sen, Sapura Energy perked up half-a-sen to 28.5 sen, FGV added eight sen to RM1.01 while V.S Industry was flat at 78.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index was 78.54 points weaker at 11,662.72, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 80.62 points to 11,546.88, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 67.45 points to 11,575.45, the FBM 70 went down 33.21 points to 13,695.43 but the FBM Ace Index rose 2.06 points to 4,443.78.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index lost 107.66 points to 17,517.76, the Plantation Index rose 5.72 points to 7,248.51, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.76 points to 161.28.
Main Market volume dipped to 1.48 billion shares valued at RM1.80 billion against Tuesday’s 2.65 billion shares worth RM2.01 billion.
Warrants turnover widened to 335.47 million units worth RM61.28 million from 306.69 million units valued at RM51 million recorded yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market shrank to 259.80 million shares worth RM56.78 million versus 357.48 million shares valued at RM53.66 million previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 139.93 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (222.14 million), construction (178.19 million), technology (140.53 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (39.84 million), property (90.95 million), plantations (101.69 million), REITs (12.17 million), closed/fund (22,000), energy (429.64 million), healthcare (22.29 million), telecommunications and media (31.43 million), transportation and logistics (28.15 million), and utilities (38.73 million). — Bernama
