KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia bucked the regional market trend to end in the red today, weighed by selling pressure in selected heavyweights, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI fell 10.42 points to 1,629.41 from yesterday’s close of 1,639.83.
The key index opened 3.10 points easier at 1,636.73, and moved between 1,626.23 and 1,636.73 throughout the session.
However, market breadth was positive with gainers thumping losers 759 to 435, while 446 counters were unchanged, 563 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Total volume decreased to 9.53 billion units worth RM5.44 billion from yesterday’s 11.01 billion units worth RM7.20 billion.
Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.65% to 29,385.61, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.60% better at 29,211.64, Singapore’s Straits Times Index increased 0.79% to 3,104.04, and South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.88% to 3,013.70.
A dealer said Asian bourses, which took cue from Wall Street’s overnight rally with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a record high on yesterday, were firmer today.
The upbeat performance was lifted by sentiment brought on by the easing of US bond yields coupled with a new stimulus package, while weaker-than-expected US consumer price index in February, that increased by 0.4%, helped wane inflation concerns, he said.
On the local front, Bursa Malaysia traded lower throughout the session on profit-taking after four straight days of gains.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim told Bernama that the FBM KLCI lost 0.64% today as investors viewed that the current level is ripe for profit-taking.
“This was in contrast with other regional peers which recorded gains such as Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.
“Sector-wise, banking stocks faced selling pressure such as Hong Leong and CIMB, causing the Bursa Malaysia Financial Index to be the biggest laggard with a 0.72% loss,” he added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM8.55, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare gained 2 sen each to RM4.34 and RM5.31 respectively, Petronas Chemicals improved 3 sen at RM8.20 and Tenaga rose 8 sen to RM10.80.
Of the actives, AirAsia X improved 1 sen to 10.5 sen, Widad edged up half-a-sen to 49 sen, Saudee fell 8 sen to 70 sen, and Dagang NeXchange slid 2 sen to 87 sen, while Vizione was flat at 31.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 17.68 points to 11,934.76 and the FBMT 100 Index declined 33.71 points to 11,616.89.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 8.44 points better at 13,189.47, the FBM ACE jumped 90.70 points to 10,443.12 and the FBM 70 surged 112.17 points to 15,680.32.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index gained 7.59 points to 7,189.72, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.72 of-a-point to 190.82, but the Financial Services Index dropped 113.72 points to 15,721.82.
Volume on the ACE Market declined to 1.88 billion shares worth RM594.89 million from 2.25 billion shares worth RM650.79 million previously. – Bernama, March 11, 2021
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