BURSA Malaysia closed lower as profit-taking persisted on the broader market amidst weak sentiment shrouding most regional peers, dealer said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 0.77% or 12.31 points to 1,568.22 from 1,580.53 at yesterday’s close.
Earlier, the market bellwether opened 5.39 points weaker at 1,575.14, and fluctuated between 1,560.63 and 1,575.14 throughout the trading session.
However, the overall market breadth was almost even with 450 gainers and 449 losers, while 413 counters were unchanged, 990 untraded, and 14 others suspended
Total turnover fell to 2.41 billion units worth RM2.27 bil against 3.08 billion units worth RM3.40 bil on Thursday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse was weaker as investors took profits on oil and gas as well as plantation counters amid heightened regional volatility.
“Regionally, key indices were also lower due to mixed sentiment amid fears of inflation and geopolitical tensions,” he told Bernama.
He further explained that investors also digested the US economic data, which recorded the highest inflation in 40 years, driving the country’s bond yields higher and raised expectations that interest rate hikes would be steeper.
According to news reports, the US inflation rose 7.9% in February compared with a year ago, the highest in four decades, with prices bound to get worse as the geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine intensifies.
Back home, Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank, Public Bank and Press Metal all shed 4 sen each to RM8.91, RM4.40 and RM6.51 respectively, IHH Healthcare fell 1 sen to RM6.41, while Petronas Chemicals added 8 sen to RM9.70.
As for the actives, DNeX and SMTrack slipped half-a-sen each to 99.5 sen and 9.5 sen respectively, Hibiscus Petroleum and Bumi Armada slid 2 sen each to RM1.18 and 40 sen respectively, while MY E.G added 4 sen to 97.5 sen. – March 11, 2022
