BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS LOWER ON LATE SELLING

By Siti Noor Afera Abu

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index reversed yesterday’s gains to close lower, weighed down by profit-taking, as selling in selected heavyweights intensified during the last two hours of trading, as investors turned cautious despite mostly higher performances across regional markets.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 3.93 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 1,619.96 from Wednesday’s close of 1,623.89.

The benchmark index opened 4.55 points firmer at 1,628.44 and fluctuated between 1,619.26 and 1,629.69 throughout the trading session.

On the broader market, gainers thumped decliners 692 to 452, while 547 counters were unchanged, 1,095 untraded and 10 suspended.

Turnover was slightly higher at 4.70 billion units worth RM2.94 billion versus yesterday’s 4.64 billion units worth RM2.96 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said investors are awaiting the release of the delayed US September jobs report, which was pushed back due to the government shutdown. The report is set for release today.

Back home, the benchmark index reversed earlier gains as buying interests have shifted to mid and small cap stocks.

“However, the overall market continues to show encouraging strength, supported by strong market volume over the past several sessions, indicating that investors are gradually returning to the local market.

“We foresee the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,620-1,635 towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Maybank lost three sen to RM9.90, CIMB and Tenaga Nasional fell four sen to RM7.53 and RM13.14, respectively, IHH Healthcare sank 12 sen to RM8.13, while Public Bank rose two sen to RM4.30.

On the most active list, V.S. Industry and Perak Transit eased half-a-sen to 44 sen and 28 sen, respectively, Aquawalk slid 2.5 sen to 35.5 sen, while Zetrix AI increased one sen to 85.5 sen, and Tanco was two sen firmer at RM1.03.

Among the top gainers, Nestle climbed RM1 to RM113.30, BLD Plantation gained 52 sen to RM13.30, Petronas Dagangan rose 36 sen to RM21.48, and Chin Teck Plantations and United Plantations perked up 30 sen to RM10.86 and RM28.30, respectively.

As for the top losers, PPB slipped 46 sen to RM11.14, Kuala Lumpur Kepong edged down 20 sen to RM20.60, Sunway Construction dipped 13 sen to RM5.73, and AmBank and Mesiniaga slid 10 sen to RM5.73 and RM1.20, respectively.

On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index shed 2.45 points to 11,797.29, the FBM Emas Index improved by 5.71 points to 12,031.01, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 10.33 points higher at 12,024.63.   

The FBM ACE Index rose 50.81 points to 4,973.56 and the FBM Mid 70 Index soared 110.38 points to 16,922.78.   

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index garnered 0.67 of-a-point to 8,226.20, the Industrial Products and Services Index rose 1.07 points to 166.40, while the Financial Services Index declined 20.68 points to 18,423.38, and the Energy Index trimmed 1.40 points to 757.29.  

The Main Market volume increased to 1.53 billion units valued at RM2.29 billion against 1.46 billion units valued at RM2.34 billion on Wednesday.

Warrants turnover expanded to 2.71 billion units worth RM488.20 million from 2.47 billion units worth RM394.73 million yesterday. 

The ACE Market volume shrank to 457.42 million units valued at RM162.05 million against 711.02 million units valued at RM232.33 million previously. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 416.85 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (261.50 million), construction (101.20 million), technology (237.04 million), financial services (71.34 million), property (133.51 million), plantation (59.33 million), real estate investment trusts (19.86 million), closed-end fund (24,400), energy (82.25 million), healthcare (59.82 million), telecommunications and media (35.35 million), transportation and logistics (35.73 million), utilities (24.72 million), and business trusts (79,000).

-- BERNAMA