KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia ended broadly lower with the key index finishing 0.13% easier, weighed down by selling in selected heavyweights led by Top Glove Corp Bhd.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 2.09 points to 1,609.19 from yesterday’s close of 1,611.28.
The index opened 5.13 points lower at 1,606.15, and moved between 1,601.08 and 1,610.61 throughout the day.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 649 to 414, while 441 counters were unchanged, 695 untraded and 93 suspended.
Total volume eased to 5.78 billion shares valued at RM3.59 billion from yesterday’s 6.71 billion units valued at RM3.58 billion.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the local bourse was dragged down by Top Glove, which dropped by more than 5.0%.
The company’s shares sank due to a United States Customs and Border Protection directive to personnel at all US ports of entry to seize disposable gloves produced in Malaysia by the manufacturer, following allegations of forced labour.
Top Glove dipped 27 sen, or 5.35%, to RM4.78, with 68.15 million units changing hands.
On other heavyweights, Maybank rose 2 sen to RM8.40, Public Bank gained 5 sen to RM4.28, TNB climbed 6 sen to RM10.40, IHH Healthcare surged 13 sen to RM5.43, CIMB added 2 sen to RM4.46, Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM8.10 and Axiata trimmed 6 sen to RM3.79.
As for active counters, Berjaya Corp expanded 6 sen to 39.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange went up 2 sen to 90.5 sen, Permaju Industries bagged 1 sen to 19 sen, ACE market debutant Flexidynamic jumped 23 sen to 43 sen, Widad shed 7 sen to 58.5 sen, and Macpie lost 9.5 sen to 21 sen.
On the index board, the FBM 70 put on 0.58 of a point to 15,602.37, FBM Emas Index gave up 12.05 points to 11,822.77, FBMT 100 went down 10.94 points to 11,495.04, FBM Emas Shariah fell 44.23 points to 13,089.39, and FBM ACE slumped 251.2 points to 10,232.89.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 39.80 points to 15,458.91, Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.67 of a point to 193.53, and Plantation Index bagged 38.21 points to 7,134.67.
The main market volume was slightly lower at 3.83 billion shares worth RM2.92 billion from 3.88 billion units worth RM2.64 billion yesterday.
Warrant turnover eased to 250.08 million units valued at RM36.92 million from 278.35 million shares valued at RM44.94 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market decreased to 1.69 billion shares worth RM631.33 million from 2.54 billion units worth RM891.53 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services accounted for 894.71 million shares traded on the main market, industrial products and services (1.28 billion), construction (193.42 million), technology (503.87 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (68.87 million), property (355.78 million), plantations (19.91 million), REITs (5.57 million), closed/fund (14,100), energy (219.95 million), healthcare (113.43 million), telecommunications and media (40.18 million), transportation and logistics (107.39 million), and utilities (26.02 million). – Bernama, March 30, 2021
