BURSA Malaysia ended lower today, driven by continued profit- taking in the industrial products and services as well as plantation counters amid mixed sentiments on the regional markets, dealers said.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 11.38 points to 1,524.03 from Monday’s close of 1,535.41.
Press Metal Aluminium shed 9 sen to RM5.31 while IOI Corp fell 10 sen to RM3.81, dragging the key index by a combined 2.30 points.
The FBM KLCI opened 0.14 of-a-point higher at 1,535.55 and fluctuated between 1,520.08 and 1,536.16 throughout the trading session.
However, the broader market was negative as decliners outpaced gainers 653 to 311, while 441 counters were unchanged, 872 untraded and 18 others suspended.
Turnover was slightly higher at 3.11 billion units valued at RM2.39 billion from Monday’s 3.10 billion units valued at RM2.13 bil.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the local equities closed lower after a lacklustre trading session as investors seemed reluctant to make more significant moves following the previous week’s selldown.
“Nonetheless, we viewed today’s selldown as a good opportunity for bargain-hunting as valuations of local equities remain attractive, particularly the blue chips.
“Moreover, with the Malaysia/Singapore border set to reopen by end-November, sentiments should further improve as the domestic economy gets better,” he told Bernama today.
Additionally, he said Brent crude remains above US$80 per barrel and he reckoned this as buying opportunity for local oil and gas (O&G) stocks.
“We expect the index to hover within the 1,530-1,550 range for the remainder of the week. Technically, immediate support is unchanged at 1,520, followed by the psychological support at 1,500 while resistance is at 1,565,” he added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell 2 sen to RM7.99, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals shed 1 sen each to RM4.03 and RM8.29 respectively, while IHH Healthcare and Tenaga Nasional slipped 6 sen each to RM6.45 and RM9.61 respectively.
Of the actives, Eduspec eased half-a-sen to 1.5 sen, while Saudee Group, Lambo Group and KNM Group slipped 1.0 sen each to 6.5 sen, 5.5 sen and 20.5 sen respectively. — Nov 9, 2021
