Heavy selling in plantations, energy and healthcare stocks dragged Bursa Malaysia to finish at its lowest level in 25 months, dealers said.
At 5pm, the barometer index dipped 26.78 points or 1.83% to 1,431.10 from Tuesday’s close of 1,457.88.
This is the weakest level last seen on the local exchange when it closed at 1,435.12 on May 20, 2020.
The key index opened 3.25 points firmer at 1,461.13 and hit a high of 1,461.53 in early morning before slipping to its intraday low of 1,431.10 at the close of the session.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 640 to 255, while 381 counters were unchanged, 999 untraded, and 19 others suspended.
Total turnover decreased to 2.72 billion units worth RM1.90 bil from 2.79 billion units worth RM1.86 bil on Tuesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the decline on the local bourse was in tandem with regional performance whereby the key indices were broadly lower as investors were cautious ahead of the United States (US) Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s key testimony before Congress later, which is expected to sound extremely hawkish.
“Additionally, worries about economic downturn in the US could spread to other regions of the world,” Thong told Bernama.
The direction of local bourse in the near term remained uncertain and would depend very much on regional volatility, he added.
“Nonetheless, at current level, we believe the FBM KLCI remains in an oversold position, hence we expect the benchmark index to stage a rebound soon,” he said.
Thong anticipates the local bourse to move higher within the range of 1,430-1,460 for the remainder of the week, with immediate resistance at 1,490 and support at 1,415.
Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Sime Darby Plantation shed 38 sen to RM4.04, Kuala Lumpur Kepong slid RM1.30 to RM22.14, IHH Healthcare fell 11 sen to RM6.38, Hartalega slipped 23 sen to RM2.17, and Dialog Group eased 3 sen to RM2.07.
Of the actives, TWL Holdings declined 1 sen to 6.5 sen, Top Glove decreased 7 sen to RM1.01, while MNC Wireless was unchanged at 1.5 sen, Lay Hong added 1.5 sen to 28.5 sen, and Cypark Resources gained 1 sen to 42.5 sen. – June 22, 2022
