BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS LOWER ON BROAD SELLING, CI DOWN 0.97 PCT

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed lower today, with the benchmark index falling by 0.97 per cent, as persistent selling across various sectors weighed on the market, which continued to feel the impact of sweeping US tariffs. 

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dipped 14.77 points to 1,504.14 from Thursday’s close of 1,518.91.

The benchmark index opened 9.90 points easier at 1,509.01 and fluctuated between 1,500.90 and 1,515.74 throughout the day.

 In the broader market, losers thumped gainers 777 to 185, while 366 counters were unchanged, 1,031 counters untraded and 19 others suspended.  

Turnover fell to 1.81 billion units valued at RM1.89 billion against Thursday’s 2.51 billion units valued at RM1.81 billion.    

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI extended its decline on a knee-jerk reaction to the 24 per cent US tariff on Malaysian exports, as the regional markets also closed lower on similar concerns.

He added that the benchmark index is currently nearing oversold territory. 

“Furthermore, tariff on Malaysia is relatively low as compared with many countries in the region. Hence, we view this as a buying opportunity, particularly for fundamentally strong blue chips with attractive dividend yields to hedge against prevailing market weakness,” Thong told Bernama. 

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 decreased 2.75 per cent to 33,780.58, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed 1.52 per cent to 22,849.81, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index tumbled 2.74 per cent to 3,834.20.

Back home, Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights IHH Healthcare, CelcomDigi, and Press Metal all rose four sen to RM6.79, RM3.62, and RM4.91, respectively, while Maybank shed two sen to RM10.24, Public Bank eased three sen to RM4.37, Tenaga Nasional trimmed 10 sen to RM13.48, and CIMB slid 12 sen to RM7.01.  

Among the actives, Trive Property advanced half-a-sen to four sen, Sapura Energy and Permaju Industries were flat at 4.5 sen and 3.5 sen, respectively, NexG was 1.5 sen easier at 23.5 sen, Pertama Digital slipped one sen to eight sen, and V.S. Industry gave up two sen to 80 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 141.91 points to 11,195.65, the FBMT 100 Index fell 134.65 points to 10,973.88, the FBM Emas Shariah Index shaved 145.27 points to 10,923.18, the FBM 70 Index slumped 301.48 points to 15,851.17,  and the FBM ACE Index slid 75.71 points to 4,632.60.   

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index sank 192.40 points to 18,306.51, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 2.59 points to 147.20, the Energy Index dipped 15.87 points to 719.27, and the Plantation Index trimmed 73.34 points to 7,332.19.   

The Main Market volume decreased to 1.35 billion units worth RM1.79 billion against Thursday’s 1.40 billion units worth RM1.61 billion.   

Warrants turnover dwindled to 189.56 million units worth RM11.57 million from 836.86 million units worth RM94.28 million yesterday.   

The ACE Market volume declined to 268.14 million units worth RM90.36 million from 275.91 million units worth RM105.92 million previously.  

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 236.83 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (250.07 million), construction (98.12 million), technology (173.08 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (102.94 million), property (117.48 million), plantation (15.63 million), REITs (11.71 million), closed/fund (31,500), energy (196.19 million), healthcare (66.05 million), telecommunications and media (25.09 million), transportation and logistics (25.61 million), utilities (35.05 million), and business trusts (35,500).

-- BERNAMA