BURSA Malaysia finished at its intra-day low today as investor sentiments were affected by the weaker manufacturing data amidst straggling crude oil prices.
The local bourse’s performance was also tracking that of its regional peers.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI fell 28.23 points, or 2.09%, to close at 1,322.66 from 1,350.89 at Tuesday’s close.
The key index had opened 5.99 points lower at 1,344.90 and hovered between 1,322.66 and 1,344.90 during the day.
Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 523 to 355, while 358 counters were unchanged, 685 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover widened to 4.74 billion shares worth RM2.77 bil from 3.52 billion shares worth RM2.87 bil yesterday.
A dealer said the less-than-encouraging IHS Markit Malaysia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) — which fell to 48.4 in March 2020 from 48.5 in February 2020 — had stymied risk sentiment in the market.
“Investor confidence was also hampered by the sliding crude oil prices which saw the benchmark Brent crude trading below US$25 per barrel today on oversupply worries,” he said.
The dealer also said the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index continued to decline over the past two days — a signal that volatility remained high in the market.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei declined 4.5% to 18,065.41, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index went down 2.19% to 23,085.79 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index was 1.65% lower at 2,440.27.
Oil and gas-linked stocks continued to dominate the most actively traded counters today, with Sapura Energy, Alam Maritim Resources and Hibiscus inching down half-a-sen to 7.5 sen, 4.5 sen and 33.5 sen, respectively.
Velesto added half-a-sen to 12 sen, while Armada and KNM were unchanged at 13.5 sen and 11.5 sen, respectively.
Of the FBM KLCI’s 30 counters, Petronas Chemicals led the list of decliners by erasing 30 sen to RM4.75, followed by Maxis which dropped 27 sen to RM5.08, Digi and Sime Darby Plantation slid 20 sen each to RM4.15 and RM4.74, respectively, while Maybank gave up 13 sen to RM7.32.
Hong Leong Financial topped the losers’ list, sinking 88 sen to RM12.80, Petronas Dagangan was 78 sen lower at RM20.38, Heineken dropped 68 sen to RM21.20, Nestle wiped out 60 sen to RM136.10 and F&N trimmed 46 sen to RM30.56.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dwindled 153.63 points to 9,086.18, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 181.69 points to 9,923.39 while the FBMT 100 Index decreased 157.64 points to 9,008.87.
The FBM 70 weakened 39.35 points to 10,511.20 and the FBM Ace eased 88.63 points to 3,893.18.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 4.06 points to 103.54, the Financial Services Index slumped 226.22 points to 12,044.45 and the Plantation Index was 144.85 points lower at 6,107.28.
Main Market volume widened to 3.64 billion shares valued at RM2.47 bil against 2.60 billion shares worth RM2.63 bil on Tuesday.
Warrants turnover was higher at 371.73 million units worth RM99.24 mil compared with 328.13 million units worth RM84.10 mil yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market expanded to 721.70 million shares valued at RM192.26 mil from 590.30 million shares worth RM158.33 mil yesterday.
Consumer products and services accounted for 438.25 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (577.91 million), construction (297.44 million), technology (592.61 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (71.18 million), property (256.27 million), plantations (83.06 million), REITs (14.96 million), closed/fund (3,200), energy (1.10 billion), healthcare (32.36 million), telecommunications and media (71.06 million), transportation and logistics (67.58 million), and utilities (39.78 million). — April 1, 2020, Bernama
