BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS SOFTER IN SYNC WITH REGIONAL TREND

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the week lower, mirroring the weak performance of regional bourses, as an overnight sell-off on Wall Street dampened investor sentiment.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 2.39 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 1,617.57 from Thursday’s close of 1,619.96.

The benchmark index opened 2.24 points lower at 1,617.72 and fluctuated between 1,614.60 and 1,618.86 throughout the trading session.

On the broader market, decliners trounced gainers 821 to 392, while 496 counters were unchanged, 1,078 untraded, and 20 suspended.

Turnover was slightly lower at 4.39 billion units worth RM2.96 billion versus Thursday’s 4.70 billion units worth RM2.94 billion. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said, despite the external volatility, the local market remained well-supported, underpinned by consistent institutional buying and improving domestic confidence.

“We expect Malaysian equities to remain resilient in the near term, supported by sustained participation from local institutional investors who continue to recognise the solid fundamentals of domestic corporates and the attractive valuations across key sectors.

“Reinforcing this strength, market volume has consistently exceeded 4.0 billion shares, well above the average of approximately 2.8 billion, indicating a meaningful broadening in investor engagement rather than activities concentrated in a limited number of counters,” he told Bernama.

Nonetheless, Thong noted that a degree of caution is still warranted given the uncertain global macro backdrop, particularly ongoing concerns over global growth prospects and shifting expectations for US monetary policy. 

Regionally, China’s SSE Composite Index slumped 2.45 per cent to 3,834.89, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tumbled 2.38 per cent to 25,220.02, Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank by 2.40 per cent to 48,625.88, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.95 per cent to 4,469.14.

Back home, Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights Maybank advanced four sen to RM9.94, Press Metal added one sen to RM6.48, Maxis was flat at RM4.13, Public Bank eased two sen to RM4.28, CIMB trimmed seven sen to RM7.46, and Tenaga Nasional slid four sen to RM13.10.

On the most active list, Borneo Oil perked up half-a-sen to one sen, V.S. Industry and Tanco rose one sen each to 45 sen and RM1.04, respectively, Zetrix AI gave up 4.5 sen to 81 sen, and Perak Transit was one sen lower at 27 sen.  

Among the top gainers, BLD Plantation jumped 70 sen to RM14, Formosa Prosonic surged 47 sen to RM2.04, United Plantations climbed 24 sen to RM28.54, and Eurospan bagged 13 sen to RM3.13.

As for the top losers, Nestle lost RM1.30 to RM112, Petronas Dagangan shed 46 sen to RM21.02, Hong Leong Industries slipped 26 sen to RM15, and MI Technovation declined 24 sen to RM3.

On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index dipped 27.18 points to 11,770.11, the FBM Emas Index slid 34.20 points to 11,996.81, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 31.95 points lower at 11,992.68.    

The FBM ACE Index decreased 31.97 points to 4,941.59 and the FBM Mid 70 Index tumbled 81.75 points to 16,841.03.    

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index garnered 10.43 points to 8,236.63, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 1.47 points to 164.93, the Financial Services Index fell 47.38 points to 18,376.0, and the Energy Index eased 1.33 points to 755.96.  

The Main Market volume improved to 1.58 billion units valued at RM2.37 billion versus Thursday’s 1.53 billion units valued at RM2.29 billion. 

Warrants turnover narrowed to 2.43 billion units worth RM446.66 million from 2.71 billion units worth RM488.20 million yesterday. 

The ACE Market volume shrank to 379.78 million units valued at RM139.96 million from 457.42 million units valued at RM162.05 million previously. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 293.71 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (425.24 million), construction (136.08 million), technology (230.58 million), financial services (63.63 million), property (141.10 million), plantation (42.75 million), real estate investment trusts (14.62 million), closed-end fund (5,500), energy (93.36 million), healthcare (58.69 million), telecommunications and media (19.92 million), transportation and logistics (27.84 million), utilities (30.54 million), and business trusts (12,000).

-- BERNAMA