BURSA Malaysia finished on a negative note today, tracking most of its regional peers with investors cautiously monitoring the prospect of United States (US) stimulus measures.
Talks on the US’s Covid-19 relief package are set to continue today, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin seek to narrow their differences on the stimulus package, hoping to reach for an agreement and subsequently pass a Bill before the Nov 3 presidential election.
Meanwhile, on the local front, political uncertainty was causing foreign investors to keep selling Malaysian equities, according to an analyst.
“However, institutional buying was supporting the index-linked counters, and thanks to the Conditional Movement Control Order reinstatement, retail investors were back to provide support to the lower liners,” she said.
At 5 pm, the benchmark index closed 7.14 points, or 0.47%, lower at 1,510.97 from 1,518.11 at Monday’s close.
The market barometer opened 0.39 point higher at 1,518.50 and moved between 1,510.69 and 1,520.97 throughout the day.
On the scoreboard, losers led gainers 661 to 394, while 449 counters were unchanged, 647 untraded and 22 others suspended.
Total volume surged to 11 billion units worth RM5.82 bil (the highest volume since Aug 28) versus the 9.50 billion units worth RM5.43 bil recorded at Monday’s close.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim told Bernama that the FBM KLCI was also dragged down by Petronas Dagangan, which dropped 5.2% amid concerns over surging coronavirus cases globally and by Libya’s plan to boost output which led to the decline in oil prices.
“Meanwhile, the Bursa Healthcare Index was down 1.5%, the highest among the sectors despite the increasing number of Covid-19 infections.
“Perhaps investors retreated to the sidelines amid the political uncertainty in Malaysia and also from the highly upcoming anticipated US presidential election in November,” he commented.
Nevertheless, Adam said Bursa’s technology index was up 0.9%, signalling that demand for information technology services would remain strong in the long run amid the prolonged pandemic situation.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.44% to 23,567.04, Singapore’s Straits Times was 0.65% lower at 2,527.93 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng expanded 0.11% to 24,569.54.
The CMCO in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya runs from Oct 14-27 and in Sabah from Oct 13-26.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost two sen to RM7.18, Top Glove erased 12 sen to RM9.48 and Public Bank shed four sen to RM15.80 while Hartalega was four sen better at RM19.04.
Top losers included Nestle, which slumped RM2.60 to RM139.40, followed by Petronas Dagangan which lost 98 sen to RM17.90 and F&N which declined 46 sen to RM31.10.
Among the actives, Lambo and Luster were flat at 3.5 sen and 22.5 sen respectively while Ace Market debutant Aneka Jaringan slipped four sen to 29 sen. – Oct 20, 2020
