BURSA Malaysia ended on a mixed note today following a volatile trading day due to weak oil prices and commodity export data.
At the close, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rebounded to add 2.04 points to 1,372.20 from 1,370.16 at Monday’s close, boosted by institutional support after trading in a tight range of 1,367.44 to 1,377.37.
Overall market losers surpassed gainers 548 to 305, while 369 counters were unchanged, 691 untraded and 30 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 5.02 billion units worth RM2.49 bil compared with yesterday’s 5.18 billion worth RM2.23 bil.
An analyst said Bursa Malaysia is expected to continue trading in a choppy mode as global oil prices remain turbulent due to weak demand and the oil spat between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Besides oil price, she said data from palm oil export had shown a significant drop which would lead to a muted demand for stock related to the commodity.
“As the global supply chain is disrupted and demand drops due to Covid-19, commodities including oil will remain on a lower benchmark until signs of recovery are seen. We believe that there is still a long way to go,” she said.
At 5pm, Brent crude was recorded at US$19.21 per barrel with the energy index slipping 2.62%, while for palm oil, its index declining 0.26 per cent.
On the technical forefront, she said the immediate resistance for the KLCI remained at 1,380 with the support level at 1,340.
Meanwhile, energy counters continued to be under pressure with 23 recording losses, thumping only seven gainers which led to the sectoral decline of 2.62% for the day.
Selected heavyweights, meanwhile, recorded gains as Tenaga Nasional added four sen to RM12.10, Public Bank added 18 sen to RM15.94, MISC rose 48 sen to RM8.38, and Nestle jumped 50 sen to RM139..
Petronas Chemicals shed 17 sen to RM5.09, making it one of the biggest losers for the day, alongside CIMB Group which declined 11 sen to RM3.41.
On the contrary, Petronas Gas emerged as one of the top gainers for the day, adding 52 sen to RM20.26, together with PPB, which rose 22 sen to RM16.38.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 1.75 points weaker at 9,558.02, the FBMT 100 Index increased 1.18 points to 9,436.30, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 15.35 points to 10,611.78, the FBM ACE appreciated 44.89 points to 4,633.02, and the FBM 70 declined 51.57 points to 11,385.33.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slipped 69.43 points to 12,198.80, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 1.02 point to 114.32, and the Plantation Index slid 16.37 points to 6,154.20.
Main Market volume increased to 3.03 billion worth RM2.03 bil from 2.98 billion shares worth RM1.70 bil yesterday.
Warrants turnover rose to 269.78 million worth RM69.91 mil from yesterday’s 244.14 million units valued at RM64.54 mil.
Consumer products and services accounted for 540.92 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (567.61 million), construction (278.04 million), technology (380.61 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (66.13 million), property (241.01 million), plantations (43.55 million), REITs (11.94 million), closed/fund (11,180), energy (538.01 million), healthcare (73.31 million), telecommunications and media (159.18 million), transportation and logistics (110.95 million), and utilities (24.61 million). — April 28, 2020, Bernama
