Bursa Malaysia erased earlier gains to end at the day’s low today, extending its losses for the fifth consecutive day, on last-minute selling in selected heavyweights as investors remained cautious ahead the release of a series of global economic data, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed 2.07 points or 0.13% weaker at 1,523.86, from Tuesday’s close of 1,525.93.
The index, which opened 0.03 points easier at 1,525.90, hit a high of 1,532.72 in the morning session.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 524 to 388, while 398 counters were unchanged, 964 untraded, and nine others suspended.
Total turnover increased to 3.26 billion units worth RM1.96 bil compared with 2.62 billion units worth RM1.78 bil on Tuesday.
A dealer said local bourse opened easier this morning but rebounded thereafter to remain in positive territory for most part of the day before succumbing to last-minute selling in selected heavyweights stocks.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng told Bernama that sentiment remained fragile as investors were cautious on uncertainties such as global recession, inflation and rising interest rates.
Meanwhile, key regional markets ended mostly positive following the upbeat performance on Wall Street overnight, he said.
However, he noted that Chinese equities were marginally higher Wednesday as investors were awaiting the release of China’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) which is due on Friday, while strong buying in Chinese technology shares pushed Hong Kong sharply higher.
“On the domestic front, despite the cautious market undertone, we expect bargain hunting will prevail given the cheap valuations of local stocks, continuous inflow of foreign investors and improving macroeconomic situation in the country.
“As such, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend slightly higher within the 1,520-1,540 region for the remainder of the week, with immediate resistance at 1,575 and support at 1,520,” he added.
Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 0.20% to 3,225.23, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.04% to 28,234.29, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2.24% to 22,014.59, South Korea’s KOSPI eased 0.01% to 2,626.15, and China’s SSE Composite Index added 0.68% to 3,263.79.
Among the heavyweights, Public Bank added 5 sen to RM4.57, IHH Healthcare gained 3 sen to RM6.53, CIMB climbed 1 sen to RM5.07, Petronas Chemicals shed 1 sen at RM9.85, while Maybank was flat at RM8.84.
Of the actives, Dynaciate slid 2.5 sen to 14.5 sen, Dynaciate-warrant eased 4 sen to 4.5 sen, ACE Market debuntant LGMS soared 34.5 sen to 84.5 sen, MNC Wireless edged up half-a-sen to two sen, while BCM Alliance was flat at 2.5 sen. – June 8, 2022
