KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia reversed earlier gains to end slightly lower today despite the announcement of a better-than-expected third-quarter (Q3) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) performance.
At the close, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.09 points to 1,589.69 after moving between 1,572 and 1,592.19 throughout the day.
The key index hovered in negative territory during the morning session but was able to recoup losses in mid-afternoon following Bank Negara Malaysia’s announcement that the country’s GDP shrank by just 2.7% in Q3 compared with a 17.1% contraction in the second quarter.
Nevertheless, risk appetite remained weak as many investors had factored in the Q3 2020 results.
Meanwhile, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the Q3 GDP had beat consensus estimate of -4.6% growth.
“If we look at the Bursa Small Cap Index, it increased by 0.63% today.
“So this may be due to the government agreeing to Barisan Nasional’s proposal to extend the loan moratorium; hence many retail investors will flock to the market to pick up penny stocks,” he told Bernama when asked whether market players ignored the GDP results.
The central bank attributed the GDP’s improvement largely to the reopening of the economy following Covid-19 containment measures and better external demand conditions.
Meanwhile, on the broader market, gainers thumped losers 650 to 531, while 450 counters were unchanged, 539 untraded and 26 others suspended.
Total volume decreased to 12.58 billion units worth RM4.6 billion from 16.56 billion units worth RM5.88 billion yesterday.
Of the heavyweights, Hap Seng Consolidated led losers among the 30 FBM KLCI index constituents with a 4.74% drop on Friday while building material counters rose, with Press Metal recording the biggest gain of 3.5% as the construction sector saw a lower decline in GDP during Q3 2020.
Maybank rose 13 sen to RM7.93, Top Glove gained eight sen to RM7.78 and Hartalega bagged two sen to RM15.38.
Public Bank and Tenaga fell 16 sen each to RM17.76 and RM11.32 respectively, while Petronas Chemicals trimmed five sen to RM6.78.
Of the actives, AT Systematization gained 3.5 sen to 25.5 sen, Metronic improved four sen to 17 sen, and Nexgram added one sen to six sen, but Xidelang slipped one sen to 8.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 4.65 points better at 11,409.99, the FBMT 100 Index lifted 1.05 points to 11,204.04, the FBM Emas Shariah Index bagged 6.26 points to 13,327.03, and the FBM 70 gained 35.38 points to 14,622.98.
However, the FBM ACE fell 127.39 points to 11,224.75.
The Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.3 of-a-point to 156.52 and the Plantation Index advanced 23.55 points to 7,304.2 but the Financial Services Index contracted 14.6 points to 13,568.01.
The Main Market volume fell to 6.5 billion shares worth RM3.2 billion from 8.37 billion shares worth RM4.2 billion on Thursday.
Warrants turnover decreased marginally to 662.75 million units valued at RM114.61 million from 687.1 million units valued at RM103.83 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market slipped to 5.41 billion shares worth RM1.28 billion compared with 7.5 billion shares worth RM1.57 billion previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 1.17 billion shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (3.08 billion), construction (197.29 million), technology (367.77 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (94.5 million), property (283.97 million), plantations (100.24 million), REITs (9.47 million), closed/fund (20,800), energy (295.08 million), healthcare (79.24 million), telecommunications and media (74.84 million), transportation and logistics (318.36 million), and utilities (426.3 million). — Bernama
