KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia slipped again today as buying interest remained tepid as the cautious mood persisted despite improved sentiment across the region.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) retreated 3.99 points to 1,450.20 from Tuesday’s closing of 1,454.19.
The index opened 0.19 point higher at 1,454.38.
Market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing advancers 528 to 436, while 358 counters were unchanged, 881 untraded, and 20 others suspended.
Turnover dipped to 3.21 billion units worth RM2.04 billion from yesterday’s 4.63 billion units worth RM3.95 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the positive China factory activity data failed to boost the overall market performance as domestic sentiment remained cautious.
Regional bourses ended mostly higher, particularly in China and Hong Kong after its manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 52.6 in February for the highest reading since April 2012.
“Today’s selldown seems unjustified, so we reckon bargain hunting will emerge anytime soon.
“Moreover, the FBM KLCI is near an oversold level, hence providing opportunities for investors to accumulate stocks at attractive levels given their cheaper valuations,‘’ he told Bernama.
Heavyweight counters Tenaga Nasional lost 9.0 sen to RM9.28, IHH fell 8.0 sen to RM5.71 and Axiata dropped 4.0 sen to RM3.13. Maybank dipped 2 sen to RM8.78 and MISC went down 13 sen to RM7.43.
Maxis rose 5.0 sen to RM3.96 and Public Bank advanced 1.0 sen to RM4.14.
As for active stocks, Icon Offshore tumbled 3.0 sen to 9.0 sen, Velesto was half-a-sen higher at 19.5 sen while MYEG and Tanco improved 1.5 sen each to 73.5 sen and 46.5 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 21.80 points to 10,557.33, the FBMT 100 Index slid 24.88 points to 10,246.58 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 41.68 points to 10,755.99.
The FBM 70 Index gave up 18.46 points to 13,418.17 while the FBM ACE Index improved by 38.16 points to 5,396.43.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index eased by 11.71 points to 16,183.12, the Plantation Index shed 4.22 points to 6,762.42 and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased by 0.61 point to 176.82.
The Energy Index recovered 4.75 points to 848.32.
The Main Market volume narrowed to 2.20 billion shares worth RM1.73 billion from Tuesday’s 3.56 billion shares worth RM3.64 billion.
Warrant turnover, however, rose to 440.41 million units worth RM86.65 million from 305.37 million units worth RM54.41 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume dwindled to 564.47 million shares worth RM220.07 million from 764.19 million shares worth RM260.79 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 288.33 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (461.80 million); construction (93.68 million); technology (256.81 million); SPAC (nil), financial services (60.72 million); property (128.25 million); plantation (38.59 million); REITs (6.1 million), closed/fund (36,500); energy (594.75 million); healthcare (149.38 million); telecommunications and media (35.86 million); transportation and logistics (48.67 million); and utilities (40.76 million). - Bernama
