BURSA Malaysia closed lower on Thursday, with its key index declining 0.49% due to profit-taking activities after seven days of gains.
The market was dragged down mainly by banking, plantation, and oil and gas heavyweights, said Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shrank 7.86 points to 1,592.52 from 1,600.38 at yesterday’s closing.
The bellwether index opened 1.28 points firmer at 1,601.66 – its highest level for the day – and fell as low as 1,588.63 during today’s trading.
Market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers 531 to 453, while 444 counters were unchanged, 864 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Turnover decreased to 4.17 billion units worth RM2.85 bil from 4.49 billion units worth RM3.34 bil on Wednesday.
Thong said crude palm oil (CPO), meanwhile, continued to defy consensus forecasts as it was settling at above RM5,000 per tonne.
“We believe this will still offer upsides for plantation stocks, hence buying opportunities.
“Supported by strong market volume, foreign buying and improving corporate earnings following the reopening of economy, we believe the index will continue with its ascension and expect the index to chart around the 1,595-1,605 range towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank slipped one sen to RM8.28 and Public Bank was flat at RM4.19, while Petronas Chemicals rose one sen to RM8.76 and IHH Healthcare increased two sen to RM6.76.
Among the actives, Serba Dinamik fell 2.5 sen to 38.5 sen, Kanger Inetrnational eased half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, and Hiap Teck bagged four sen to 66 sen.
Of the top losers, PMB Technology erased 44 sen to RM14.06, Petronas Dagangan dropped 40 sen to RM19.60, and Opcom decreased 35 sen to RM1.32. – Oct 14, 2021
