BURSA Malaysia ended lower today due to profit-taking activities across the board amid the weaker regional market sentiment on reports that Russia has seized a Ukrainian nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, a dealer said.
Markets in the region were also spooked by earlier reports that a building in the nuclear complex had caught fire during fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, although the latest report is that the fire had been extinguished.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 14.6 points to 1,603.94 from 1,618.54 at yesterday’s close.
The barometer index, which opened 2.54 points lower at 1,616.00, moved between 1,598.17 and 1,616.28 throughout the trading session.
The broader market was negative with decliners beating gainers 849 to 239, while 341 counters were unchanged, 811 untraded, and nine others suspended.
Turnover improved to 3.44 billion units valued at RM3.29 bil from Thursday’s 3.43 billion units valued at RM3.76 bil.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the Russia-Ukraine crisis has continued to hurt market sentiment following the fighting at Europe’s largest nuclear power station in Ukraine, with reports that a building had caught fire and that Russia has seized control of the plant.
“Investors are also worried that sanctions imposed on Russia, along with the subsequent surge in oil prices, could derail economic recovery even as the US Federal Reserve prepares to begin raising interest rates,” he told Bernama.
Despite the market correction, the FBM KLCI remains well supported to stay above the 1,600 level, he added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost 12 sen to RM9, Public Bank eased 1 sen to RM4.42, Petronas Chemicals gained 4 sen to RM10.04, Press Metal stayed at RM7.22 and IHH Healthcare rose 3 sen to RM6.60.
Of the actives, SMTrack slid half-a-sen to 19.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange shed 6 sen to RM1.02 and China Automobile gained 1 sen to 2 sen. – March 4, 2022
