KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia ended only slightly lower today after rallying late in the day to offset earlier losses, supported by buying in selected heavyweights led by the plantation, healthcare and financial counters.
At the close today, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 0.43 point or 0.03% to 1,466.46 after opening 1.42 points lower at 1,465.47.
Decliners trounced advancers 688 to 365, while 401 counters were unchanged, 636 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Total volume increased slightly to 5.94 billion shares worth RM3.29 billion from last Friday's 5.90 billion shares worth RM3.90 billion.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said among the 30 FBM KLCI constituents, Sime Darby was the biggest gainer, recording a daily advance of 2.90% today while Dialog Group led laggards with a 2.7% loss.
On a sectoral basis, Bursa’s transportation and logistics index surged by 5.36%, making it the largest gainer among sectors on the exchange amid the two-year freeze on new courier licences.
He said the energy index was the day’s biggest loser as investors remained cautious ahead of the US presidential election which may impact policies on oil production.
"For instance, a Joe Biden victory would be negative for oil prices, as the presidential candidate has proposed to spend US$1.7 trillion on renewable energy initiatives, in line with his initiative to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
"On the other hand, a Donald Trump victory would be positive for oil prices as climate change is ‘not the top of his list’ and reducing carbon emissions is not on his agenda," Adam told Bernama.
On the local front, an analyst said the market remained cautious as all eyes would be on the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) interest rate decision which was due tomorrow, and the upcoming budget 2021 announcement on November 6.
"The MPC meets for the final time in 2020 and there is a strong likelihood that there will be a cut in the benchmark overnight policy rate (OPR) by another 25 basis points (bps) to 1.5%.
"Sentiment was also dragged by a slowdown in manufacturing data. The top losers included Fraser and Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N), Supermax Corporation, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd and PBB Group Bhd," she said.
The headline IHS Markit Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) — a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance — dipped for the fourth successive month in October to 48.5 from 49.0 in September.
Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank rose one sen to RM7.01, Tenaga added six sen to RM9.60, Petronas Chemicals increased 11 sen to RM5.96 and IHH Healthcare added nine sen to RM5.06.
Top Glove eased 18 sen to RM8.39, while Hartalega and Public Bank fell 16 sen each to RM17.84 and RM14.92, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index erased 51.55 points to 10,562.03, the FBMT 100 Index was 49.05 points lower at 10,383.58 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 55.70 points to 12,685.98.
The FBM 70, meanwhile, slipped 244.30 points to 13,740.79 and the Financial Services Index lost 51.19 points to 11,958.20 but the Plantation Index rose 28.60 points to 6,830.50.
Meanwhile, the industrial products and services index added 0.51 point to 141.65.
The Main Market volume declined to 3.02 billion shares worth RM2.58 billion from Friday's 5.90 billion shares worth RM3.90 billion.
Warrants turnover increased to 913.27 million units valued at RM184.83 million from 724.08 million units worth RM158.25 million.
Volume on the ACE Market rose to 2.01 billion shares worth RM520.76 million compared with 1.80 billion shares worth RM560.49 million on Friday last week.
Consumer products and services accounted for 629.49 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (618.10 million), construction (126.32 million), technology (232.13 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (40.46 million), property (232.76 million), plantations (39.84 million), REITs (5.92 million), closed/fund (9,500), energy (146.00 million), healthcare (98.45 million), telecommunications and media (50.59 million), transportation and logistics (739.65 million), and utilities (55.28 million). – Bernama, November 2, 2020
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