KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Wednesday, as elevated United States (US) Treasury yields and weakness in technology stocks weighed on investor sentiment, an analyst said. However, gains in healthcare and telecommunications stocks provided some support to the broader local market. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.04 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 1,731.32 compared with Tuesday’s close of 1,733.36. The benchmark index opened 1.39 points weaker at 1,731.97, and fluctuated between 1,725.95 and 1,733.44 throughout the day. On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 701 to 478, while 563 counters were unchanged, 1,131 untraded and 16 suspended. Turnover shrank to 3.31 billion units valued at RM2.92 billion from 3.74 billion units valued at RM2.91 billion on Tuesday.
KUALA LUMPUR (April 3): The FBM KLCI fell 7.57 points or 0.4% mainly on last-minute selling of Tenaga Nasional Bhd shares and as investors turned cautious on Malaysia's 14th general election (GE14) timing. Bursa Malaysia's technology and small cap indices dropped by a larger quantum.
At 5pm, the KLCI closed at 1,850.78 while Tenaga shares fell 34 sen to RM15.86. Bursa Malaysia's technology and small cap indices dropped 3.96% and 1.51% respectively.
Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd head of retail research Loui Low told theedgemarkets.com that the weaker market sentiment is due to concerns on the timing of the Malaysian Parliament's dissolution.
“Hence, people are slightly more prudent, that’s why they are not getting exposed further into the stock market,” After the GE14, we should see more trading momentum interest from that point onwards,” Low said.
Across Bursa Malaysia today, 1.89 billion shares worth RM1.9 billion were traded. Decliners led gainers by 630 to 223.
Bursa Malaysia's technology index's 3.96% drop followed global concerns on technology companies as the China-US trade spat dictated world market sentiment.
Across Asian stock markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.45%, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.07% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng erased losses to close up 0.29%.
Reuters reported that Asian shares slipped on Tuesday amid escalating trade tensions and concerns about tech firms, although regional index declines were modest compared with those of their Wall Street counterparts as investors focused on global growth prospects.
Overnight, it was reported that Wall Street shares plunged on Monday as investors fled technology stocks amid resurgent trade war worries, with key indexes trading below their 200-day moving averages and the S&P 500 closing below that pivotal technical level for the first time since Britain's vote to leave the European Union in June 2016.
Source: The Edge
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