BURSA Malaysia ended the morning session in the red as losses in regional markets dampened market sentiment with investors continuing to dump equities and other assets on worries over the economic impact from the Covid-19 pandemic.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI declined 29.73 points to 1,209.28 from yesterday’s close of 1,239.01.
After opening 11.30 points easier at 1,227.71 this morning, the benchmark index moved between 1,207.80 and 1,242.82 throughout the morning session.
On the broader market, losers trounced gainer 880 to 102, with 159 counters unchanged, 876 not traded and 16 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 2.10 billion shares worth RM1.29 bil.
In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said amid the rising risk of recession, the market downtrend might linger for the time being.
“With market conditions likely to remain dour, we reckon the FBM KLCI will continue its downward momentum towards the 1,200 support level or even towards the 1,160 level. A recovery, which we see little sunshine may bring mild gains, capped at the 1,250 level.
“Similarly, the broader market’s recovery on intraday yesterday was quickly brushed off after 15 minutes into the opening bell. This suggests that the weakness may prevail for a little longer,” it added.
On the regional front, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 4.23% to 21,349.68, Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 4.44% to 2,317.94 and the Jakarta Composite Index declined 5.34% to 4,099.53.
Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank fell 14 sen to RM7.12, Tenaga eased 14 sen to RM11.28, Public Bank declined 42 sen to RM12.60 and IHH gained nine sen to RM4.89.
Among the actives were Sapura Energy, which eased one sen to 6.5 sen, NetX Holdings was flat at one sen and Ekovest fell 5.5 sen to 29 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 316.06 points to 8,158.18, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 300.59 points to 8,971.69 and the FBM 70 gave up 754.10 points to 8,963.88.
The FBMT 100 Index was 298.68 points lower at 8,116.13 and the FBM Ace depreciated 239.72 points to 3,189.69.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 7.32 points to 90.89, the Financial Services Index lost 477.96 points to 10,871.52 and the Plantation Index was 83.24 points lower at 5,507.11. — March 19, 2020, Bernama
