BURSA Malaysia ended Monday in red for the seventh consecutive session despite foreign investors returning to the market, pushed down by the selling of selected heavyweight counters led by Sime Darby Plantation and Top Glove.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 20.62 points or 1.33% to 1,527.89 from Friday’s close of 1,548.51.
The index, which opened 0.89 of-a-point easier at 1,547.62, moved between 1,526.90 and 1,547.67 throughout the day.
Market breadth was negative with decliners outnumbering gainers 951 to 194, while 359 counters were unchanged, 772 untraded, and nine others suspended.
Turnover fell to 4.69 billion units worth RM2.9 bil from last Friday’s 5.13 billion units worth RM4.18 bil.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the performance of the local markets had been sluggish, further aggravated by news of potential windfall taxes and the waiving of interest.
“We reckon sentiments will remain dampened until more clarity surfaces. Having said that, we believe bargain hunting may emerge as the country’s economy is slowly reopening amid COVID-19 cases had declined to a two-month low,” he told Bernama.
As Malaysia enter the fourth quarter, Thong said the market could expect some portfolio realignments and window dressing activities to occur.
“For the week, we anticipate the index to remain sideways with immediate support at 1,520 and resistance at 1,550,” he added.
Among the heavyweights, Sime Darby Plantation lost 35 sen to RM3.45, Top Glove trimmed 25 sen to RM2.81, and Press Metal fell 15 sen to RM5.65.
Maybank advanced five sen to RM8.30, Petronas Chemicals added one sen to RM7.95, Hong Leong Bank was flat at RM18.70, Public Bank decreased four sen to RM4.02 and IHH Healthcare slipped five sen to RM6.65.
Among the actives, Kanger International was flat at five sen, Pasukhas eased 2.5 sen to nine sen, Emico dropped 12 sen to 54.5 sen, Dagang Nexchange and Yong Tai both went down four sen to 76 sen and 16 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index narrowed 160.20 points to 11,205.62, the FBMT 100 Index was 148.30 points weaker at 10,911.56, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 232.70 points to 12,181.44.
The FBM 70 discounted 205.14 points to 14,802.15, while FBM ACE weakened by 194.61 points to 7,006.61.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index trimmed 185.15 points to 6,241.27, the Industrial Products and Services Index went down 2.96 points to 196.65, and the Financial Services Index slid 55.40 points to 15,234.40. – Sept 20, 2021
