KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed marginally lower on Friday, as cautious sentiment persisted, with investors remaining on the sidelines amid ongoing conflicts in West Asia, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.80 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,695.50 from Thursday’s close of 1,698.30. The benchmark index opened 5.82 points higher at 1,704.12, and moved between 1,693.65 and 1,708.12 throughout the day. However, market breadth remained positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 634 to 415, while 521 counters were unchanged, 1,077 untraded and 10 suspended. Turnover improved to 3.38 billion units worth RM2.95 billion from yesterday’s 3.20 billion units worth RM3.50 billion.
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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