Bursa dips below 1,600 level as national emergency declared

KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia failed to keep up with its gains earlier today and fell below the 1,600 level, with 940 counters in the red at mid-morning trade amid selling pressure.

At 11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI shed 25.34 points to 1,591.91.

The index opened 1.41 points lower at 1,615.84 compared with Monday’s close of 1,617.25.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 940 to 213, while 315 counters were unchanged, 616 untraded and 12 suspended.

Total volume stood at 3.77 billion units worth RM2.29 billion.

Earlier, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah proclaimed an emergency that will be enforced until August 1 to contain the Covid-19 threat.

He said the order may be lifted earlier if coronavirus infections are effectively controlled and reduced.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in a televised address at 11am, said the government had to seek a proclamation of emergency as there has been no sign of Covid-19 cases decreasing.

He said the civilian government will continue to function during the period of emergency.

Banking dragged the heavyweights counters, with Maybank losing 17 sen to RM8.02 and Public Bank declining 56 sen to RM19.72.

TNB went down 14 sen to RM10.10, PetChem dropped 18 sen to RM7.12, while Top Glove and IHH retreated 2 sen to RM6.41 and RM5.58, respectively.

Only Sime Darby, TM and Press Metal were on a positive note, gaining 5 sen to RM2.33, 10 sen to RM5.61 and 1 sen to RM8.26, respectively.

Of the actives, Hubline, AT Systematization and Lambo were flat at 5 sen, 17.5 sen and 3 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index surrendered 173.95 points to 11,374.53, FBMT 100 Index lost 175.74 points to 11,137.32, and FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 125.09 points to 12,945.60.

The FBM ACE narrowed 142.23 points to 10,216.81 and FBM 70 depreciated 218.28 points to 14,214.80.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index sank 372.71 points to 14,458.70, while the Industrial Products and Services Index decreased 2.59 points to 169.41 and  Plantation Index fell 65.90 points to 7,417.67. – Bernama, January 12, 2021