Weak sentiment drags Bursa to close lower on Wednesday

BURSA Malaysia gave up yesterday’s gains to close broadly lower today as concerns over the rapid spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and the latest political development in the country curbed buying appetite.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 8.93 points to end the day at 1,491.33 compared with Tuesday’s close of 1,500.26.

The market bellwether, which opened 2.98 points weaker at 1,497.28, fluctuated between 1,483.73 and 1,497.88 throughout the session.

It was heavily weighed down by losses in Public Bank, Telekom Malaysia (TM), Mr DIY and Dialog with a combined 4.903 points.

The overall market breadth was negative with losers surpassing gainers at 685 versus 333, while 411 counters were unchanged, 763 untraded and nine others suspended.

Turnover decreased to 3.67 billion units worth RM2.53 bil from 4.16 billion units valued at RM2.72 bil on Tuesday.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the FBM KLCI closed 0.6% lower as investors digested the latest political developments in the country while COVID-19 cases reached another record high.

Malaysia today recorded 19,819 new COVID-19 cases — the highest since the pandemic hit the country early last year.

“On further scrutiny, losers on the FBM KLCI index were led by Dialog and TM, which dropped by 4.1% and 3% respectively.

“On the sectoral front, the Bursa Malaysia Healthcare Index and Bursa Malaysia Transportation and Logistics Index were laggards dropping as much as 1.2% during the day,” he told Bernama.

In comparison with other regional markets, most Asian peers recorded gains during the day, taking the cue from the strong corporate profits recorded by companies on Wall Street.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank and Public Bank eased four sen each to RM8.01 and RM3.96 respectively, Petronas Chemicals shed five sen to RM8, IHH lost six sen to RM5.71 and CIMB trimmed three sen to RM4.51.

Tenaga Nasional, however, rose 10 sen to RM9.83.

Among the actives, Dagang Nexchange shed 3.5 sen to 75.5 sen, Saudee slipped 1.5 sen to nine sen, Advance Synergy was flat at 16.5 sen, Serba Dinamik and BCM Alliance inched up half-a-sen each to 41 sen and 15.5 sen respectively, while Seal Inc bagged 3.5 sen to 42.5 sen. – Aug 4, 2021

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