KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia closed lower today as profit-taking emerged in industrial products and services as well as healthcare counters, and in line with the downtrend in regional markets, dealer said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI declined 3.05 points to 1,578.32 from yesterday’s close of 1,581.37.
The index opened 1.55 points better at 1,582.92 today and moved between 1,576.46 and 1,584.95 throughout the day.
Market breadth was negative with losers thumping gainers 668 to 349, while 449 counters were unchanged, 687 untraded, and 11 others suspended.
Turnover fell to 4.69 billion units worth RM3.14 billion from 5.84 billion units worth RM3.65 billion yesterday.
Press Metal and Top Glove were among the top contributors to the benchmark index’s downturn after losing 19 sen and 8.0 sen to RM4.91 and RM4.66, respectively.
Meanwhile, an analyst said Asian markets turned weaker as investors were looking out for any hint of hawkishness from the United States Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
He said the looming Chinese retail sales and industrial production data also exacerbated the cautious mode, which eventually showed a consumer demand slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
In a research note today, ActivTrades trader Anderson Alves said the main focus will be on the FOMC message and any hints they may give about taper timing.
“Any fresh update on the path of the US Fed’s monetary policy framework could trigger a sharp move in the global fixed income, foreign exchange and equity markets. Traders will be looking for signs of a change in the policymakers language about price pressures being transitory.
“Some fixed income and money markets traders will be watching to see if the Fed will make tweaks to its administered rates (Interest on Excess Reserves (IOER) and/or the Reverse Repo Facility (RRP) rates),” he said.
In the meantime, heavyweights Maybank was 3.0 sen lower at RM8.17, Public Bank was flat at RM4.21, Petronas Chemicals added 1.0 sen to RM8.11, TNB gained 8.0 sen to RM10.02 and IHH Healthcare improved 10 sen to RM5.67.
Of the actives, KNM eased half-a-sen to 20 sen and DNex slipped 1.5 sen to 87.5 sen, while Serba Dinamik and Berjaya Corp fell 3.5 sen each to 64.5 sen and 30 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 45.20 points to 11,522.65, the FBMT 100 Index declined 36.78 points to 11,210.37, and the FBM ACE went down 69.63 points to 7,635.29.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 43.45 points to 12,668.30, while the FBM 70 dropped 107.67 points to 14,968.49.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 8.51 points to 15,308.18, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 1.27 points to 192.66, while the Plantation Index fell 68.95 points to 6,533.42.
Main Market volume rose to 3.41 billion shares worth RM2.74 billion from 3.96 billion shares worth RM2.92 billion at yesterday’s close.
The warrants market’s turnover went down to 274.53 million units valued at RM31.73 million from 322.62 million units valued at RM32.77 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market rose to 1.00 billion shares worth RM364.48 million versus 1.56 billion shares worth RM687.72 million previously. – Bernama, June 16, 2021
