BURSA Malaysia remained in the red at lunch break due to bearish market sentiments following the increased number of Covid-19 infections and deaths.
At 12.30pm, key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 6.04 points, or 0.441%, to 1,363.88 from 1,369.92 at Tuesday’s close.
The key index had opened 3.46 points lower at 1,366.46 and moved between 1,358.33 and 1,367.16 in the morning session.
On the scoreboard, losers beat gainers 405 to 350, while 355 counters were unchanged, 810 untraded and 20 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 3.11 billion shares worth RM1.32 bil.
In the United States, the Covid-19 pandemic claimed nearly 2,000 lives over the last 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University as of 8.30pm on Tuesday.
The recent figures have brought the Covid-19 death toll in the US to 12,722 — closer to the death toll in the worst-hit countries so far — Italy with 17,127 dead and Spain with 13,798.
In Malaysia, the number of confirmed cases stood at 3,963, with 1,321 recoveries and 63 deaths.
While analysts are predicting a volatile global stock market on mounting concerns over the virus spread, some believe it would be capped by improved oil price which is currently at US$32.67 per barrel, a rise of 2.51%.
The FBM KLCI also received some buying support in selected heavyweights, led by Maybank, which rose eight sen to RM7.91, followed by IHH which increased two sen to RM5.14, while Petronas Chemicals was one sen higher at RM4.79.
Of the other heavyweights, Tenaga declined 16 sen to RM12.04, while Public Bank and Maxis erased eight sen each to RM15.82 and RM5.33, respectively.
Plantation counters emerged as top losers as KLK lost 52 sen to RM20.74, Sime Darby Plantation declined 28 sen to RM4.72 and PPB was 14 sen weaker at RM16.34.
The Malaysian Palm Oil Association and the Malaysian Estate Owners Association yesterday called on the Sabah state authorities to allow plantations and mills with no Covid-19 cases in six districts to resume operations.
The six districts are Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kinabatangan, Kunak, Semporna and Kalabakan.
Both associations believed that a prolonged shutdown would be a lost social-economic opportunity, saying that commodities like palm oil is one of the few sectors that can keep the economic momentum of the state running amidst the current downturn.
Meanwhile, among the actives, Hibiscus Petroleum inched down half-a-sen to 53 sen, Ekovest added 5.5 sen to 50 sen and Mlab was half-a-sen better at two sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 23.76 points to 9,453.95, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 28.65 points to 10,373.90 while the FBMT 100 Index depreciated 26.88 points to 9,340.89.
The FBM 70, however, rose 28.08 points to 11,112.28, but the FBM Ace slid 20.97 points to 4,211.93.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.91 of-a-point to 110.24, the Financial Services Index expanded 26.50 points to 12,442.80 and the Plantation Index contracted 144.95 points to 6,206.86. — April 8, 2020, Bernama
