BURSA Malaysia ended marginally lower on lack of buying interest, with healthcare heavyweights weighing on the index amid volatile trading, an analyst said.
Hartalega led the decliners after it slid 26 sen to RM5.57, while Top Glove was 6 sen lower at RM2.29.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.56 of-a-point to 1,530.09 from 1,530.65 at yesterday’s close.
The index, which opened 2.68 points higher at 1,533.33, moved between 1,529.10 and 1,534.73 throughout the session.
Overall market breadth was negative with decliners outnumbering gainers 468 to 451, while 415 counters were unchanged, 878 untraded, and 10 others suspended.
Total turnover declined to 2.85 billion units worth RM2.17 bil versus 3.08 billion units worth RM2.30 bil at yesterday’s close.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said regional key indices trended mixed due to cautious trading following negative cues from Wall Street overnight.
“Investors are cautiously awaiting the release of the US inflation data and the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting for directional clues,” he told Bernama.
Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 1.15% to 3,405.11, Japan’s Nikkei 225 increased 0.13% to 27,284.52, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index eased 1.02% to 24,329.49.
Among other heavyweights, Maybank rose 2 sen to RM8.35, IHH Healthcare added 5 sen to RM6.50 while Public Bank eased 1 sen to RM4.21 and Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM9.05.
Among the actives, ATA IMS rose 4 sen to 50.5 sen, MYEG added 8 sen to RM1.05, SMTrack was flat at 18.5 sen and AirAsia rose 6 sen to 9.5 sen. – Feb 8, 2022
