Bursa gives up less than a point, broad-based profit taking seen

BURSA Malaysia ended the week marginally lower on broad-based profit taking following Thursday’s unexpected gains.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of research Kenny Yee said yesterday’s increase amid the rising Covid-19 cases had caught investors by surprise.

“Covid-19-infections have surpassed one million globally, and market sentiment remains jittery; therefore, investors opted to rake in profits in view of the ongoing uncertainties,” he told Bernama.

At 5pm, key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 0.25 of a point, or 0.02%, to close at 1,330.65 from 1,330.90 at Thursday’s close.

The index opened 0.66 of a point firmer at 1,331.56 at 9am and hovered between 1,324.41 and 1,333.82 during the day.

Market breadth remained negative, with losers thumping gainers 440 to 309, while 379 counters were unchanged, 793 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Turnover increased further to 5.34 billion shares worth RM2.48 bil from 5.14 billion shares worth RM2.43 bil yesterday.

Today, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) projected a weaker economic outlook for 2020, while FTSE Russell said late yesterday that it would keep Malaysian bonds on its World Government Bond Index (WGBI) watch list.

Asked whether these had influenced the FBM KLCI, Yee said the implications were not significant, as both announcements had been widely expected by market players.

In its 2019 annual report released today, BNM said the Covid-19 pandemic would have a significant impact on Malaysia’s economy, with the gross domestic product (GDP) growth expected to be between -2.0 and 0.5% in 2020 versus 4.3% last year.

The bleak news followed FTSE Russell’s announcement on Thursday that it would keep Malaysia on its WGBI watch list at the interim review and gave six months for the country to improve market conditions and avoid an exit from the benchmark.

Of the heavyweights, Petronas Dagangan dipped RM1.20 to RM20.50, Hong Leong Financial erased 40 sen to RM12.30, Genting lost 11 sen to RM3.77, Public Bank eased 10 sen to RM15.70 and IHH was four sen easier at RM5.02.

Petronas Dagangan and Hong Leong Financial were among the top losers on the local bourse.

Top gainers were led by Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia, increasing 38 sen to RM26.66, while Perusahaan Sadur Timah Malaysia garnered 20 sen to RM3.28 and Batu Kawan perked 18 sen to RM12.

The most active counters’ list continued to be dominated by oil and gas-linked stocks on the back of improving crude oil prices. Benchmark Brent crude oil jumped 5.64% to US$31.63 per barrel as at 5.26pm.

Sapura Energy ticked up half-a-sen to 9.5 sen and Hibiscus added two sen to 45 sen, but Velesto slipped half-a-sen to 16 sen. Meanwhile, Bumi Armada and Alam Maritim were unchanged at 16.5 sen and 7.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 10.37 points to 9,175.38 and the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 7.88 points to 9,088.65 but the FBM Emas Shariah Index rebounded 3.51 points to 10,061.44.

The FBM 70 eased 34.70 points to 10,710.06 and the FBM ACE slumped 149.17 points to 3,817.31.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index weakened 25.0 points to 12,051.99. In contrast, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.35 of a point to 105.52 and the Plantation Index was 13.36 points firmer at 6,139.64.

Main Market volume widened to 4.66 billion shares valued at RM2.33 bil from 4.29 billion shares worth RM2.22 bil on Thursday.

Warrants turnover, however, was lower at 296.16 million units worth RM70.81 mil versus 320.69 million units worth RM96.84 mil yesterday.

Volume on the ACE Market shrank to 383.85 million shares valued at RM81.30 mil from 531.76 million shares valued at RM112.11 mil yesterday.

Consumer products and services accounted for 428.34 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (430.95 million), construction (204.68 million), technology (237.43 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (52.52 million), property (166.88 million), plantations (51.23 million), REITs (11.67 million), closed/fund (6,100), energy (2.92 billion), healthcare (36.82 million), telecommunications and media (28.05 million), transportation and logistics (60.43 million), and utilities (34.63 million). — April 3, 2020, Bernama

Subscribe and get top news delivered to your Inbox everyday for FREE