KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index closed lower today, in line with most regional markets, as investors adjusted their risk exposure amid spiralling oil prices driven by the ongoing West Asia conflict, now in its second month. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) retreated by 24.75 points or 1.44 per cent to 1,687.90 from Friday’s close of 1,712.65. The market bellwether opened 10.57 points weaker at 1,702.08 and fluctuated between 1,682.79 and 1,702.38. The broader market was bearish, with decliners thumping advancers 956 to 371. A total of 373 counters were unchanged, 1,042 untraded and 134 suspended. Turnover expanded to 3.98 billion units worth RM4.85 billion from last Friday’s 2.97 billion units worth RM3.25 billion.
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 14): The FBM KLCI closed up 5.3 points or 0.34% at its intraday high today following a final-hour spike in an apparent reaction to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng's statement that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will announce an economic stimulus package on Feb 27 to mitigate the Covid-19 outbreak's impact on Malaysia.
At 5pm today, the KLCI closed at 1,544.46, supported by sharp 11th-hour gains in prices of index-linked stocks including Maxis Bhd and Digi.Com Bhd.
"The stimulus intends to mitigate the adverse external economic impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak on Malaysia while preserving the welfare of the rakyat (people)," Lim said in the statement.
Across Bursa Malaysia, 2.67 billion shares exchanged hands for RM2.26 billion. A total of 465 counters gained against 330 decliners.
Maxis closed up 13 sen or 2.36% at RM5.63 while Digi.Com rose eight sen or 1.83% to RM4.45.
Fund managers said Malaysian shares will also take cue from the ongoing corporate financial reporting season for the October-to-December 2019 quarter (4Q19).
“The ripple is still there. Let’s see the corporate results over the next few weeks and see if the weakness of the 4Q19 GDP (Malaysia gross domestic product numbers) translated (into weakness) across the market or (the impact is) concentrated within certain sectors,” Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong Teck Meng told theedgemarkets.com today.
Source: The Edge

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