BURSA Malaysia retreated from its gains to end the week marginally lower, due to profit-taking activities particularly in banking and oil and gas stocks, coupled with the weaker regional market performance, a dealer said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.97 points to 1,603.05 from 1,605.02 at yesterday’s close.
The index, which opened 3.28 points lower at 1,601.74, moved between 1,599.80 and 1,607.42 throughout the session.
The overall market breadth was negative with decliners surpassing gainers 510 to 477, while 427 counters were unchanged, 825 untraded and 11 others suspended.
Total turnover was slightly lower at 3.87 billion units worth RM2.99 bil versus 3.91 billion units worth RM3.34 bil on Thursday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local bourse remained above the 1,600 psychological mark despite some intermittent corrections.
“The market undertone remains steady despite the anticipated profit-taking,” he said.
Regionally, key markets trended broadly lower following negative cues overnight from Wall Street amid renewed geopolitical concerns over Ukraine and Russia.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.29% to 3,431.55, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1.88% to 24,327.71 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 eased 0.41% to 27,122.07.
Bursa heavyweights Maybank and Public Bank each fell 2 sen to RM8.66 and RM4.39 respectively, Petronas Chemicals slipped 9 sen to RM9.21, IHH Healthcare declined 4 sen to RM6.55, and CIMB lost 3 sen to RM5.60.
As for the actives, Ta Win gained 3 sen to 18.5 sen, Hibiscus Petroleum added 4 sen to RM1.18, while SMTrack and DGB Asia were unchanged at 24 sen and 2.5 sen, respectively. – Feb 18, 2022
