BURSA Malaysia finished trading on an easier note today, in sync with most key regional bourses following a weaker performance on Wall Street overnight.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 6.69 points, or 0.41%, to end at its intraday low of 1,589.01 compared with Thursday’s close of 1,595.70.
The barometer index hit an intraday high of 1,596.62 in the early morning trading session after opening 0.88 of-a-point firmer at 1,596.58.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 487 to 310 with 448 counters unchanged, 1,007 untraded, and 27 others suspended.
Total turnover decreased to 2.15 billion units worth RM1.41 bil from 3.32 billion units worth RM2 bil on Thursday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the index continued to close in negative territory mainly due to continuous selling pressure amid weak sentiment across the region.
“Key regional markets closed broadly lower following negative performance on Wall Street. Meanwhile, the lockdown in Shanghai due to COVID-19 outbreaks and the war in Ukraine are weighing on sentiment,” he told Bernama.
Regionally, the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.19% to 3,335.85, South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.76% to 2,696.06 while Shanghai’s SSE Composite eased 0.45% to 3,211.24.
Japan’s Nikkei was 0.29% easier at 27,093.19 but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.67% to 21,518.08.
On the local bourse, heavyweights Maybank slid 4 sen to RM8.79, IHH Healthcare slipped 12 sen to RM6.40, Press Metal lost 8 sen to RM6.52, Public Bank was flat at RM4.67, while Petronas Chemicals rose 6 sen to RM10.32.
Of the actives, Datasonic added 3 sen to 52.5 sen, both Key Alliance and MNC Wireless were flat at 1 sen and 3.5 sen, respectively, while Tanco shed 6.5 sen to 37 sen, and China Ouhua eased half-a-sen to 7.5 sen. – April 15, 2022
