KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday amid mixed regional market performance as investors turned cautious over a possible rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and upcoming US economic data that may influence the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate decision next week. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) pared most earlier losses to settle 4.55 points easier, or 0.28 per cent, to 1,616.52 from Thursday’s close of 1,621.07. The benchmark index, which opened 0.37 of-a-point lower at 1,620.70, moved between 1,609.67 and 1,621.25 throughout the day. The broader market was negative, with decliners outpacing advancers 604 to 439. A total of 550 counters were unchanged, 1,151 untraded, and 18 suspended. Turnover declined to 3.17 billion units worth RM2.24 billion from 4.48 billion units worth RM2.75 billion yesterday. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-presiden...
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 21): The FBM KLCI, which languished in negative territory throughout trading hours today, closed 3.78 points or 0.25% lower amid renewed concerns about the fast-spreading Covid-19's global economic impact.
The benchmark index, which earlier touched an intraday low of 1,527.57 points, down 7.41 points or 0.48% — pared about half its losses to settle at 1,531.20 at 5pm.
Sime Darby Bhd led the decline among component stocks with a 2.33% drop, followed by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd at 1.89%. The gainers included Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, which climbed 1.58% and Genting Bhd, which rose 1.28%. And among the most actively traded were Eduspec Holdings Bhd, XOX Bhd and Perdana Petroleum Bhd.
Across the board, there were more decliners than gainers, at 439 versus 391. Total turnover stood at 2.73 billion shares worth RM2.14 billion across Bursa Malaysia.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong said the FBM
KLCI failed to build onto the gains in its previous sessions as it was
bogged down by negative sentiment on Wall Street and renewed concerns
over increasing Covid-19 casualties, coupled with the ringgit's recent
retreat against the US dollar.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 128.05 points overnight to finish at 29,219.98. At the time of writing, the ringgit was trading at 4.1930 against the US dollar.
“For now, we see the 1,515-level serving as the major support while any gains is expected to be mild towards the 1,545-level. We expect the negative market sentiment to remain in place until the middle of next week when the Government announces its stimulus measures.
“In the meantime, the ongoing release of corporate earnings will also dictate market sentiment,” Leong told theedgemarkets.com.
Likewise, Southeast Asian stocks were mostly down on Friday as the spread of the Covid-19 virus continues to spread outside mainland China and its impact on Asia’s economies dulled the appeal of risk assets.
Reuters reported that Singapore and Japan are on the brink of recession, while South Korea, which has initiated a lockdown on its city of Daegu, said its exports to China slumped in the first 20 days of February as the outbreak upends global supply chains.
China’s ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian nations Deng Xijun reportedly said Beijing had taken measures to support enterprises involved in Belt and Road projects, including by helping companies prepare to resume their work overseas in an orderly way.
In China, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index closed up 0.31%, marking its best week since last April as the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Friday it will speed up studying new fiscal, tax financial, insurance measures to support companies to counter the impact of the epidemic, Reuters wrote.
In contrast, the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index fell 1.09% at its close while Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.49% and 0.39%, respectively. Closer to home, the Singapore Straits Times Index fell by 0.43% as of press time.
Source: The Edge
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 128.05 points overnight to finish at 29,219.98. At the time of writing, the ringgit was trading at 4.1930 against the US dollar.
“For now, we see the 1,515-level serving as the major support while any gains is expected to be mild towards the 1,545-level. We expect the negative market sentiment to remain in place until the middle of next week when the Government announces its stimulus measures.
“In the meantime, the ongoing release of corporate earnings will also dictate market sentiment,” Leong told theedgemarkets.com.
Likewise, Southeast Asian stocks were mostly down on Friday as the spread of the Covid-19 virus continues to spread outside mainland China and its impact on Asia’s economies dulled the appeal of risk assets.
Reuters reported that Singapore and Japan are on the brink of recession, while South Korea, which has initiated a lockdown on its city of Daegu, said its exports to China slumped in the first 20 days of February as the outbreak upends global supply chains.
China’s ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian nations Deng Xijun reportedly said Beijing had taken measures to support enterprises involved in Belt and Road projects, including by helping companies prepare to resume their work overseas in an orderly way.
In China, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index closed up 0.31%, marking its best week since last April as the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Friday it will speed up studying new fiscal, tax financial, insurance measures to support companies to counter the impact of the epidemic, Reuters wrote.
In contrast, the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index fell 1.09% at its close while Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.49% and 0.39%, respectively. Closer to home, the Singapore Straits Times Index fell by 0.43% as of press time.
Source: The Edge
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