BURSA Malaysia ended lower today, driven by continued profit-taking in telecommunications and media as well as consumer products and services counters, amid weaker sentiments on the regional markets, dealers said.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 3.29 points to 1,520.74 from Tuesday’s close of 1,524.03.
Axiata shed 4.0 sen to RM3.84 while Mr D.I.Y fell 5.0 sen to RM3.65, dragging the key index lower by a combined 1.20 points.
The FBM KLCI opened 2.0 points higher at 1,526.03 and fluctuated between 1,516.75 and 1,526.15 throughout the trading session.
The broader market was negative as decliners outpaced gainers 502 to 428, while 451 counters were unchanged, 903 untraded, and 17 others suspended.
Turnover was slightly higher at 3.43 billion units valued at RM2.32 bil from Tuesday’s 3.11 billion units valued at RM2.39 bil.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI remained under pressure due to lack of buying interest while market sentiment was further dampened by the spillover effect of the regional selldown.
“The benchmark index fell by 0.22% or 3.29 points to end at 1,520.74, dragged down mainly by banks, gloves and gaming stocks. Key regional markets also ended broadly lower following overnight losses on Wall Street,” he told Bernama today.
Meanwhile, Thong said investors took a cautious stance amid the US producer price inflation data and looked ahead to the crucial consumer price inflation data.
“Back home, the FBM KLCI succumbed to more intense selling as it is hovering just around the crucial 1,520 level. If the 1,520 is broken, we see the 1,500 as the immediate psychological support level followed by the next critical support at around 1,490.
“Though we expect some bargain hunting to emerge, broad market sentiments have turned jittery as we reckon the index to move around the 1,520-1,530 range for the remaining of the week,” he added.
Among heavyweights, Maybank and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM7.99 and RM6.45, respectively, Public Bank fell 1 sen to RM4.02, TNB shed 3 sen to RM9.58, while Petronas Chemicals added 1.0 sen to RM8.30.
Of the actives, Eduspec was flat at 1.5 sen, KNM Group slipped 1.5 sen to 19 sen, while Scope Industries rose 4.5 sen to 44.5 sen, and Solution Group improved 20.5 sen to 63 sen. – Nov 10, 2021
