BURSA Malaysia ended broadly lower today, with the key index falling by 0.82% on bearish market sentiment led by banking stocks, ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision after the conclusion of its first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) tomorrow.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 12.59 points to 1,530.33 from 1,542.92 at Monday’s close after opening 1.22 points easier at 1,541.70.
The key index fluctuated between 1,525.55 and 1,541.70 throughout the trading session.
Banking counters CIMB lost 18 sen to RM5.33, Maybank fell 9 sen to RM8.32 and Public Bank eased 4 sen to RM4.18, which contributed a combined 6.53 points to the decline in the index.
The overall market breadth was negative with decliners trouncing advancers 780 to 258, while 346 counters were unchanged, 864 untraded, and 27 others suspended.
Total turnover increased to 3.57 billion units worth RM2.61 bil against Monday’s 2.59 billion units worth RM2.01 bil.
The market was closed on Tuesday for Thaipusam public holiday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI was lower today in line with continuous selling pressure across the region, particularly in banking and gaming stocks.
He noted that the key regional markets were also in negative territory as surging US treasury yields also contributed to the continuous global selloff.
Meanwhile, the Brent crude price continued its uptrend to close near US$89 per barrel amid possible disruption on the supply side following the latest attack on the United Arab Emirates.
“We expect buying interest in local oil and gas counters to remain strong in the short to mid-term. Any further dips may attract some bargain-hunting activities.
“Hence, we reckon the FBM KLCI to move between the 1,520-1,540 range for the remainder of the week, with immediate support at 1,520 and resistance at 1,570,” Thong told Bernama.
At the time of writing, Brent crude rose 0.33% to US$87.80 per barrel.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 2.80 per cent to 27,467.23, Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.04% to 3,278.75, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.06% to 24,127.85.
Back home, heavyweights Petronas Chemicals and TNB both rose 3 sen to RM8.98 and RM9.07, respectively, IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.56, Press Metal declined 4 sen to RM5.88, and Hong Leong Bank dipped 30 sen to RM19.50.
Of the actives, Dagang NeXchange advanced 4.5 sen to 91 sen, Sarawak Consolidated increased 6.5 sen to 27 sen, AHB Holdings edged up half-a-sen to 13.5 sen, EA Holdings and SMTrack eased 1 sen each to 1.5 sen and 22.5 sen respectively, while AirAsia decreased 2.5 sen to 59 sen. – Jan 19, 2022
