KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — Bursa Malaysia finished the week lower by more than one per cent as investors raked in profits ahead of the long weekend in conjunction with the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shrank 15.35 points, or 1.06 per cent, to 1,436.76 from 1,452.11 at the close yesterday.

The index opened 0.74 of-a-point lower at 1,451.37 and moved between 1,435.23 and 1,451.44 throughout the day.

Trading volume remained strong at 6.68 billion units worth RM4.19 billion compared with 7.15 billion shares worth RM4.65 billion yesterday.

Bursa Malaysia Bhd and its subsidiaries will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, in lieu of Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration which falls on Sunday. Trading will resume on Wednesday, May 27, 2020.

Commenting on the performance today, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of research Vincent Lau said the stock market slide was seen as a healthy pullback, as the key index had been on the rise since last week.

"Traders chose to book profits ahead of the long weekend due to Hari Raya Aidilfitri as they are uncertain about the outlook next week, especially amidst the renewed tensions between the US and China,” he told Bernama.

Lau said news that China had declined to set its 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) target for the first time since 1990, as well as Beijing’s moves to tighten its grip on Hong Kong security laws had also affected investors’ sentiment in the region, including Bursa Malaysia.

Of the 30 KLCI-linked counters, IHH and Petronas Chemicals lost 27 sen each to RM5.43 and RM5.90 respectively, Maybank dropped eight sen to RM7.43, CIMB slid nine sen to RM3.47 and Public Bank dipped 22 sen to RM15.26.

Velesto trimmed half-a-sen to 16 sen, KNM and Bumi Armada eased 1.5 sen each to 20.5 sen and 21.5 sen respectively, while Datasonic warrant rose nine sen to 58.5 sen and GD Express perked up five sen to 37 sen.

Top losers were led by BAT which slipped RM1.58 to RM11.72, Westports lost 38 sen to RM3.57, UEM Edgenta fell 37 sen to RM2.20, Ajinomoto Malaysia was 36 sen lower at RM14.12 and Nestle shed 30 sen to RM137.20.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 127.97 points to 10,177.12, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 124.0 points to 10,025.32, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 130.97 points to 11,620.34.

The FBM 70 dipped 225.91 points to 12,695.16 and the FBM ACE declined 120.79 points to 5,387.79.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 167.96 points to 12,380.73, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 2.88 points to 123.39 and the Plantation Index was 104.20 points easier at 6,722.85.

Main Market volume increased to 4.88 billion shares worth RM3.77 billion from 4.77 billion shares worth RM3.90 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover widened to 806.49 million units valued at RM177.84 million compared with 652.84 million units valued at RM145.51 million yesterday.

Volume on the ACE Market, however, declined to 993.18 million shares worth RM233.89 million from 1.72 billion shares worth RM606.32 million previously.

Consumer products and services accounted for 515.51 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (753.00 million), construction (396.12 million), technology (719.74 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (76.53 million), property (212.82 million), plantations (238.32 million), REITs (8.56 million), closed/fund (25,100), energy (1.18 billion), healthcare (103.32 million), telecommunications and media (310.94 million), transportation and logistics (323.97 million), and utilities (38.40 million). — Bernama