BURSA Malaysia ended lower on Wednesday on lack of fresh catalysts.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.12 points to 1,583.08 from Tuesday’s close of 1,584.20.
The market bellwether opened 3.02 points higher at 1,587.22 and fluctuated between 1,581.76 and 1,591.64 throughout the day.
Market breadth was also negative with losers trouncing gainers 632 to 386, while 420 counters were unchanged, 863 untraded, and 45 others suspended.
Turnover increased slightly to 4.02 billion units valued at RM2.50 bil from Tuesday’s 3.83 billion units worth at RM2.37 bil.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng reckons that the FBM KLCI to remain well supported from foreign funds.
Meanwhile, he said crude palm oil rebounded to assail to a record-breaking month in October for average crude palm oil price at above the RM5,000 per tonne threshold, signalling buying opportunity for plantation stocks.
“We expect the index to hover within the 1,585-1,600 range for the remaining of the week. From a technical point of view, immediate resistance is unchanged at 1,615 while immediate support remains at 1,565,” Thong told Bernama.
Regional markets were mostly lower as investors remained concerned about higher inflation and the indebted real estate sector in the region.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 0.44% to 3,218.75, Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed 0.03% to 29,908.24 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.57% to 25,682.74.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank and Petronas Chemicals added one sen each to RM8.13 and RM8.79, respectively, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM4.23 and RM6.55, respectively, TNB fell one sen to RM9.70, and Press Metal slid six sen toi RM5.70.
As for the actives, Redtone Digital surged 13.5 sen to 69 sen, Metronic and LKL were flat at 2.5 sen and 13 sen, respectively, Vortex shed two sen to eight sen, KNM contracted 1.5 sen to 20 sen, and Hiap Teck lost eight sen to 57 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 8.40 points to 11,665.76, the FBMT 100 Index was 3.21 points lower at 11,304.40, the FBM 70 improved 19.78 points to 15,330.10, the FBM ACE reduced 48.45 points to 7,121.66, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 31.89 points to 12,707.62.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased 34.42 points to 15,749.85, the Industrial Products and Services Index gave up 1.22 point to 208.69, and the Plantation Index dipped 39.52 points to 6,954.79. – Oct 27, 2021
