BURSA Malaysia ended in the red today, continuing yesterday’s losses despite attempting a rebound after Wall Street’s overnight rally, on selling pressure in heavyweight stocks.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was 5.33 points down at 1,578.91 from Monday’s close of 1,584.24.
The index opened 4.03 points higher at 1,588.27 and moved between 1,575.18 and 1,589.06 throughout the trading session.
On the broader market, losers beat gainers 650 versus 382, while 469 counters were unchanged, 630 untraded and nine others suspended.
Total volume decreased to 6.27 billion shares valued at RM3.22 bil from 7.84 billion shares valued at RM2.80 bil on Monday.
Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.04% to 3,208.60, Japan’s Nikkei was 1.30% lower at 29,696.63 and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.20% to 3,127.08 while Hong Kong trading was closed for Easter.
A dealer said Asian shares were mostly lower today despite Wall Street’s rally on optimism of economic recovery following streaks of positive economic data, as sentiment was dampened on news that China is curtailing loan growth for the rest of this year, after a surge in the first two months sparked bubble risks.
Locally, he said Bursa Malaysia opened higher but turned into negative territory at mid-morning to end lower today on selling pressure across the board.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim told Bernama that Sime Darby Plantation Bhd was the major drag on the local bourse as it declined by 3.85% today.
“The local bourse was supported by some buying interest in rubber glove counters with share prices of Top Glove Corporation Bhd, Supermax Corporation Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd closed higher today amid bargain-hunting activities.
“Therefore, it was no surprise that the Bursa Malaysia healthcare index was the largest gainer among other sectoral indices after closing 0.94% higher,” he noted.
Of the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd lost three sen each to RM8.31 and RM5.30 respectively, Public Bank Bhd reduced two sen to RM4.20, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd shed four sen to RM7.95 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd fell four sen to RM10.16.
Among the active counters, TA Win Holdings Bhd added 1.5 sen to 44 sen, Berjaya Corporation Bhd slipped 3.5 sen to 40.5 sen, Dagang Nexchange Bhd lost 5.5 sen to 80.5 sen while Vortex Consolidated Bhd warrant and Focus Dynamic Group Bhd warrant were flat at half-a-sen and one sen, respectively. – April 6, 2021