KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia endured a volatile trading today with the key index managing to recoup most of its earlier losses to end marginally lower, backed by support from institutional investors.
At the close, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased only 0.03 of-a-point to end at 1,494.61 following 11th hour buying interest.
The index opened at 1,495.56 and oscillated between 1,482.15 and 1,497.54 throughout the day.
Despite the close call on the benchmark index, the local bourse saw intense selling in the ACE and Main Market stocks.
On the total scoreboard, decliners trounced advancers by 790 to 256, while 423 counters were unchanged, 710 untraded and 43 others suspended.
Total volume declined to 5.80 billion shares worth RM4.71 billion from last Friday’s 6.92 billion shares worth RM4.1 billion.
The ACE market witnessed a decline of 3.61 per cent at close today with consumer and technology stocks taking the biggest hit for the day.
A similar trend was seen in the Main Market as consumer and industrial products dragged down the overall market.
An analyst said that the decline seen almost across-the-board was due to the absence of economic catalysts, as well as increasing concerns surrounding the rebound in the fourth quarter due to Covid-19.
“The second quarter has seen a strong decline across almost all sectors, while optimism of a rebound in the third quarter was high.
“However, the reopening of the economy at full force was short lived as the country continues to grapple with the rising numbers of Covid-19 cases daily in Sabah, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Kedah, Penang, and now Negri Sembilan,” she said.
She added that the prevailing market condition, coupled with the rising concerns over Budget 2021, has placed investors on the sidelines for now.
“A lot of the stocks have been in an oversold position especially blue chips. We place the immediate resistance for the KLCI at 1,500 while support is located at 1,480,” she said.
Of the 30 index-linked counters, Top Glove and Hartalega, which were the biggest laggards in the early session, rebounded to close flat at RM8.70 and rose 36 sen to RM17.68, respectively.
Plantation stocks emerged as the biggest gainers today with Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) putting on RM1.10 to RM22.50 and Sime Darby Plantation added eight sen to RM4.97.
Of the actives, market debutant Mr DIY added 15 sen to RM1.75 while Vsolar slipped half-a-sen to 30 sen.
Besides KLK, Hartalega and Mr DIY were also among the biggest gainers for the day.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 15.68 points to 10,809.55, the FBMT 100 Index shed 12.09 points to 10,619.54 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 10.58 points to 12,943.53.
The FBM 70 declined 62.38 points to 14,195.96 and the FBM ACE fell 383.30 points to 10,223.47.
The Financial Services Index erased 52.68 points to 12,306.48, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 0.13 of-a-point to 144.23, the Plantation Index bucked the trend and rose 105.37 to 6,960.37, while the Healthcare Index was 18.01 points weaker at 4,003.85.
The Main Market volume declined to 3.28 billion shares worth RM3.79 billion from 3.61 billion shares worth RM3.05 billion on Friday.
Warrants turnover decreased to 714.05 million units valued at RM196.74 million from 758.45 million units valued at RM166.41 million.
Volume on the ACE Market slipped to 1.80 billion shares worth RM724.67 million from 2.54 billion shares worth RM876.96 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 989.44 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (878.63 million), construction (172.17 million), technology (298.61 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (23.29 million), property (325.11 million), plantations (44.79 million), REITs (5.32 million), closed/fund (10,100), energy (210.92 million), healthcare (151.08 million), telecommunications and media (35.47 million), transportation and logistics (70.36 million), and utilities (82.44 million). – Bernama, October 26, 2020
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