On the home front, traders also continued to monitor the recent mixed batch of corporate earnings.
Telecommunications-related counters, Axiata, returned to the black in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2019 (FY19), posting a net profit of RM1.45 bil compared with a net loss of RM4.76 bil in FY18.
Meanwhile, Telekom Malaysia Bhd recorded a higher net profit of RM632.67 mil in 2019 from RM153.15 mil in 2018, while revenue stood at RM11.43 bil versus RM11.81 bil previously.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 3.78 points to 1,531.20 from Thursday’s close of 1,534.98.
After opening 5.97 points weaker at 1,529.01 this morning, the index moved between 1,527.57 and 1,533.91 during the day.
Market breadth was negative with losers beating gainers 439 to 391, while 423 counters were unchanged, 739 not traded and 22 others suspended.
Turnover decreased to 2.73 billion shares worth RM2.14 bil from 2.96 billion shares worth RM2.27 bil recorded on Thursday.
Public Investment Bank Research said in the US, corporate earnings for the fourth quarter of 2019 had quelled some fears that stock gains have come purely on the back of market momentum and speculation rather than fundamentals.
“On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.44% and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.67%, while in Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 traded 0.9% lower and the FTSE 100 lost 0.3%,” it said.
The research house also said investors assessed the Covid-19 outbreak’s impact on financial markets while evaluating Malaysian corporate financials during the current reporting season.
Meanwhile, tonight, Pakatan Harapan is scheduled to commence its presidential council meeting, which is expected to discuss the power transition.
Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank slipped one sen to RM8.41, PetChem lost 10 sen to RM6.45, Tenaga was flat at RM12.78 and Public Bank rose two sen to RM18.14.
Of the actives, Eduspec inched up half-a-sen to three sen, Xidelang improved one sen to 17 sen, XOX was flat at five sen but Priceworth fell half-a-sen to two sen.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 49.56 points to 11,657.26 and the FBM 70 dipped 41.11 points to 13,881.79.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.03 points to 145.79, the Financial Services Index shed 4.2 points to 14,695.92 and the Plantation Index erased 15.67 points to 7,134.65.
Main Market volume decreased to 1.51 billion shares valued at RM1.86 bil from 1.7 billion shares valued at RM1.99 bil recorded on Thursday.
Warrants turnover increased to 398.58 million units worth RM75.46 mil versus 395.51 million units worth RM69.06 mil.
Volume on the ACE Market declined to 821.86 million shares valued at RM196.23 mil compared with 870.55 million shares valued at RM211.62 mil.
Consumer products and services accounted for 354.74 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (274.06 million), construction (96.23 million), technology (160.21 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (33.74 million), property (140.71 million), plantations (24.03 million), REITs (9.48 million), closed/fund (0), energy (215.95 million), healthcare (46.55 million), telecommunications and media (77.93 million), transportation and logistics (46.55 million), and utilities (30.99 million). – Feb 21, 2020, Bernama
