Bursa ends lower, CI down 1.02%

KUALA LUMPUR • Bursa Malaysia ended lower today, with the key index falling 1.02% on lack of buying interest as investors digested the Budget 2023 announcements tabled today, as well as on global sell-down, said an analyst. 

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 14.43 points to 1,406.00 from yesterday’s close of 1,420.43.

The benchmark index, which opened 1.36 points better at 1,421.79, moved between 1,405.18 and 1,421.90 throughout the day. 

Market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 425 to 291, while 459 counters were unchanged, 1,172 untraded, and seven others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.91 billion units worth RM1.43 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research VP Thong Pak Leng said the absence of buying catalysts was due to the jittery market undertone amid the heightened global market risks and volatility.

“The FBM KLCI trended lower on thin volume as investors seemed reluctant to make more significant moves. The market is more heavily influenced by external factors currently,” he told Bernama

Key regional indices were also in negative territory following negative cues from Wall Street overnight as investors were wary over recession risks amid signs of further aggressive central bank policy tightening, he said. 

Malayan Banking Bhd went down two sen to RM8.65, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd declined seven sen to RM8.57, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd eased one sen to RM5.25, and IHH Healthcare Bhd narrowed five sen to RM5.76, while Public Bank Bhd gained one sen to RM4.26. 

Of the actives, Top Glove Corp Bhd weakened three sen to 64.5 sen, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd edged down half-a-sen to 1.5 sen and Citaglobal Bhd trimmed two sen to 25.5 sen, while MyEG Services Bhd added half-a-sen to 91 sen and MMAG Holdings Bhd was flat at 2.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 82.8 points to 10,050.79, the FBM 70 slid 57 points to 12,251.87, the FBM T100 Index gave up 87.46 points to 9,798.54, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 125.83 points to 10,071.30, and the FBM ACE trimmed 34.69 points to 4,708.97.

Sector-wise, the Energy Index eased 1.11 points to 697.19, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.67 of a point to 174.05, the Plantation Index slipped 94.82 points to 6,467.32, and the Financial Services Index was 48.81 points easier at 16,072.21.

The Main Market volume fell to 1.23 billion shares worth RM1.25 billion against yesterday’s 1.38 billion shares worth RM1.31 billion.

Warrant turnover rose to 181.42 million units valued at RM34.13 million from 161.61 million units valued at RM28.11 million previously.

The ACE Market volume shrank to 493.18 million shares worth RM144.85 million from 706.76 million shares worth RM252.64 million yesterday. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 154.11 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (307.65 million), construction (33.68 million), technology (132.06 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (56.57 million), property (101.03 million), plantation (11.25 million), REITs (2.74 million), closed/fund (4,100), energy (200.57 million), healthcare (166.4 million), telecommunications and media (31.9 million), transportation and logistics (23.2 million) and utilities (12.31 million). — Bernama / pic Muhd Amin Naharul