KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — Bursa Malaysia erased earlier gains to close marginally lower today as profit-taking emerged in utilities as well as telecommunication companies, amid cautious performance on the regional markets, dealers said.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.62 of-a-point to end at 1,518.16 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,518.78.
The benchmark index, which opened 0.77 of-a-point higher at 1,519.55 this morning, moved between 1,516.57 and 1,527.84 throughout the day.
Market breadth was slightly negative as losers led gainers 444 to 394, while 436 counters were unchanged, 1,005 untraded, and six others suspended.
Total turnover increased to 2.72 billion units worth RM1.91 billion from 2.69 billion units worth RM2.22 billion yesterday.
Petronas Gas and Digi.com were among the biggest contributors to the losses in the composite index, declining 28 sen and 7.0 sen to RM17.02 and RM3.79, respectively, contributing a combined 1.87 points.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI closed marginally lower as inventors took profit during the final hour of trading.
“Key regional markets were higher with Chinese indices rising sharply as investors looked to more stimulus measures to boost economic growth. As for the local bourse, despite some profit-takings, we believe the market undertone remains steady due to improving investor sentiment and foreign buying support.
“Year-to-date, the local market was aided by continuous inflow of foreign funds amounting to RM7.4 billion. As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,510-1,530 for the remainder of the week, with immediate resistance at 1,530 and support at 1,500,” he told Bernama.
Among other heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank and CIMB were flat at RM8.97, RM4.56 and RM5.45, respectively, Petronas Chemicals slipped 3.0 sen to RM8.72, while IHH Healthcare added 1.0 sen to RM6.50.
Of the actives, Metronic Global was flat at 5.0 sen, Pegasus Heights advanced 1.0 sen to 1.5 sen, while Hartalega declined 3.0 sen to RM1.74, and TWL Holdings trimmed half-a-sen to 5.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index fell 6.01 points to 10,492.15, the FBM Emas Shariah Index shed 1.67 points to 10,900.24, the FBM 70 went down 14.28 points to 12,766.55, the FBM ACE dipped 19.02 points to 4,949.26, while the FBM Emas Index slid 5.69 points to 10,743.84.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index declined 22.56 points to 16,788.78, the Plantation Index perked up 36 points to 7,294.72, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.31 of-a-point to 183.57, and the Energy Index improved 2.09 points to 659.60.
The Main Market volume increased to 1.98 billion shares worth RM1.72 billion from 1.84 billion shares worth RM1.97 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover dwindled to 313.18 million units valued at RM44.86 million versus 424.16 million units valued at RM54.67 million previously.
The ACE Market volume improved slightly to 432.65 million shares worth RM143.61 million from 432.09 million shares worth RM194.37 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 247.56 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (594.32 million), construction (25.80 million), technology (203.82 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (46.84 million), property (333.49 million), plantation (24.34 million), REITs (4.77 million), closed/fund (5,000), energy (98.41 million), healthcare (281.31 million), telecommunications and media (66.79 million), transportation and logistics (29.38 million), and utilities (20.30 million). — Bernama
