KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — Bursa Malaysia was lower in early trade today despite more robust third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) results as investors turned cautious ahead of the 15th General Election (GE15) this week, said an analyst.
At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 3.15 points to 1,465.06 from Friday’s close of 1,468.21.
The market bellwether opened 0.78 points better at 1,468.99.
On the broader market, gainers led decliners 150 to 114, while 248 counters were unchanged, 1,813 untraded, and 13 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 114.81 million units worth RM39.16 million.
Last Friday, the index was 1.27 per cent, or 18.47 points, higher at 1,468.21 following the newly-released third quarter economic data, which saw Malaysia’s economy grow by 14.2 per cent.
Kenanga Research said investors will be waiting for the outcome of GE15 before making their next move on the local bourse.
It reckons that as the country approaches polling day this Saturday, investors will likely stay on the sidelines first.
“While no two general elections (GE) are exactly the same, they may still feel jittery judging by the past stock market performances in the run-up to the three most recent GEs, which had witnessed considerable changes in the local political landscape.
“The cautious mood may also be clouded by a dearth of news flows in the week ahead,” said the research house in a note today.
In particular, for the one-week period prior to voting day, the FBM KLCI had previously logged negative returns of 4.5 per cent in 2008 (GE12), 0.7 per cent in 2013 (GE13), and 1.3 per cent in 2018 (GE14), it noted.
“In spite of the renewed buying momentum, we reckon it is still premature to say the bulls are back.
“The benchmark index could swing with a downward bias towards our revised immediate support threshold of 1,440. Our first resistance hurdle is now placed at 1,475,” it shared.
Among Bursa Malaysia heavyweight stocks, both Maybank and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM8.60 and RM8.73, respectively, while Public Bank went down two sen to RM4.43. CIMB and IHH Healthcare shed three sen each to RM5.49 and RM5.97, respectively.
Among the actives, Advance Synergy and Ta Win Holdings lessened half-a-sen each to 13 sen and eight sen, respectively, and Lambo Group reduced 1.5 sen to four sen. Techna-X improved one sen to 3.5 sen and Jade Marvel inched up half-a-sen to 28.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 8.20 points to 10,521.38, the FBM Emas Index dropped 10.17 points to 10,406.73 and the FBMT 100 Index narrowed 12.10 points to 10,139.49.
However, the FBM 70 expanded 24.32 points to 12,396.34 and the FBM ACE added 4.60 points to 5,097.91.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 28.50 points to 16,324.73 and the Plantation Index weakened 37.28 points to 6,865.45.
The Energy Index was 3.42 points stronger at 727.74 and the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.50 of a point to 179.90. — Bernama
