BURSA Malaysia closed broadly lower today, with the key index languishing in negative territory for the entire day, as regional sentiment was dampened by the United States (US) bond tapering, dealers said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended the day at 1,533.36, down 14.59 points from 1,547.95 at Wednesday’s close.
The index, which opened 1.49 points weaker at 1,546.46, moved between 1,532.60 and 1,546.50 throughout the day.
The overall market breadth was bearish with losers thumping gainers 618 to 320, while 407 counters were unchanged, 928 untraded, and 15 others suspended.
Total turnover shrank to 2.87 billion units worth RM1.9 bil from 4.49 billion units worth RM1.96 bil yesterday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the main market culprit was obviously concern over the possibly earlier interest rate hike in the US, following the release of December’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes.
He said the benchmark US 10-year Treasury bond yield has increased to more than 1.70% at the moment and the yield curve has steepened as the long-term rate has risen much faster than short end of the curve.
“So the bond market is signaling interest rate would be higher going forward. Clearly, equity investors have decided to cash out in light of the uncertainty over interest rate prospect.
“This has taken a toll on Malaysia’s equities along with other bourses in this region,” he told Bernama, adding market condition would continue to be cautious tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said investor sentiment would remain jittery although bargain hunting might prevail.
“Hence, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend in range bound and hovering within the 1,530-1,540 range towards the weekend.
“From a technical perspective, we see immediate support at 1,530 and resistance at 1,570,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals trimmed five sen each to RM8.30, RM4.12 and RM8.73 respectively, IHH Healthcare fell 10 sen to RM6.76, while CIMB eased four sen to RM5.43.
Of the actives, SMTrack gained two sen to 28 sen, Dagang NeXchange inched up half-a-sen to 84.5 sen, while Key Alliance and Pasukhas were flat at 1.5 sen and 2.5 sen respectively. – Jan 6, 2022
