BURSA Malaysia ended broadly lower today weighed by continuous profit-taking in selected heavyweights led by Press Metal and Public Bank, in line with the weaker regional market sentiment.
The two counters contributed a combined 3.54 points to the decline in the barometer index, dealers said.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 14.18 points or 0.90% to 1,555.33 from 1,569.51 at Thursday’s close.
The index opened 4.28 points lower at 1,565.23 and fluctuated between 1,549.93 and 1,565.23 throughout the trading session.
The overall market breadth was negative with decliners beating advancers 828 to 204, while 348 counters were unchanged, 871 untraded, and 28 others suspended.
Total turnover rose to 3.61 billion units worth RM2.95 bil versus 3.46 billion units valued at RM2.14 bil yesterday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI closed lower due to selling pressure seen across the region.
“Key regional markets were lower following the broadly negative cues overnight from Wall Street, with energy and technology stocks primarily dragging markets down.
“Additionally, hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials gave clear indications that US interest rates could rise as soon as March, putting an end to ultra-easy monetary conditions,” he told Bernama today.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.28% to 28,124.28, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index went down 0.19% to 24,383.32, Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.69% to 3,279.81 and South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.36% to 2,921.92.
Back home, heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank gave up 4 sen each to RM8.46 and RM4.20, respectively, Petronas Chemicals slipped 6 sen to RM9.09, IHH Healthcare went down 7 sen to RM6.58 while CIMB fell 5 sen to RM5.54.
Of the actives, AirAsia Group declined 12.5 sen to 62 sen, DNeX trimmed 1.5 sen to 84 sen, while SMTrack and Sapura Energy were flat at 29 sen and 5 sen, respectively. – Jan 14, 2022
