KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Bursa Malaysia gave up earlier gains to slip lower for a fourth straight day, as investors brushed off the country’s stronger-than-expected growth in gross domestic product (GDP) of 5.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) in the first quarter of 2023 (1Q2023).
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong said, however, the GDP performance was at a slower pace compared to 4Q2022, which recorded a growth of 7.1% y-o-y.
At 5pm on Friday (May 12), the FBM KLCI had eased by 0.16%, or 2.26 points, to close at its intraday low of 1,422.92, from Thursday’s close at 1,425.18.
The barometer index opened slightly higher at 1,426.48, and hit an intraday high of 1,429.92 in the morning session.
Market breadth was negative, with losers beating gainers 500 to 346, while 417 counters were unchanged, 998 untraded, and 32 others suspended.
Turnover decreased to 2.74 billion units valued at RM1.77 billion, from 3.39 billion units valued at RM1.62 billion on Thursday.
Leong expects economic growth in the upcoming quarters to continue to moderate, due to easing of private consumption, amid ongoing inflation and an environment of higher interest rates that sap purchasing power.
“Looking ahead, investors may be keeping a close tab on the upcoming flurry of corporate earnings releases across Bursa,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the KLCI was marginally lower in tandem with the negative performance of global equities.
He noted that key regional indices were mostly lower amid worries over US financial problems as the US government is edging closer to a June 1 deadline, wherein it could run out of cash unless Congress agrees to increase its debt ceiling.
On the home front, heavyweight Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) lost five sen to RM8.69 a share, Public Bank Bhd fell four sen to RM3.97, and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd slid 13 sen to RM7.03, while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd was flat at RM4.95.
Tenaga Nasional Bhd added 37 sen to RM9.46.
As for the actives, VinVest Capital Holdings Bhd decreased 3.5 sen to 16 sen, Dagang NeXchange Bhd went down three sen to 43 sen, and Bahvest Resources Bhd at 12.5 sen and BSL Corp Bhd at 4.5 sen had slipped half a sen each, while Autocount Dotcom Bhd perked up 1.5 sen to 69 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 15.27 points to 10,415.65, the FBMT 100 Index erased 16.13 points to 10,111.39, the FBM ACE Index declined 41.72 points to 4,984.48, and the FBM 70 index slipped 21.79 points to 13,488.16.
The FBM Emas Shariah Index climbed by 7.37 points to 10,775.92.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 1.35 points to 167.12, the Energy Index eased 2.42 points to 829.39, and the Financial Services Index trimmed 74.93 points to 15,513.28.
The Plantation Index put on 42.35 points to 6,956.66.
The Main Market volume went down to 1.70 billion units valued at RM1.50 billion, from 2.13 billion units valued at RM1.36 billion on Thursday.
Warrant turnover improved to 338.39 million units worth RM54.18 million, against 313.53 million units worth RM47.96 million previously.
The ACE Market volume tumbled to 699.03 million shares valued at RM215.96 million, versus 955.12 million shares valued at RM215.66 million a day earlier.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 341.54 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services (568.56 million), construction (55.30 million), technology (213.86 million), special purpose acquisition companies (nil), financial services (66.48 million), property (146.73 million), plantation (23.77 million), real estate investment trusts (5.06 million), closed/funds (60,000), energy (96.90 million), healthcare (83.24 million), telecommunications and media (40.85 million), transportation and logistics (23.95 million), and utilities (38.87 million).
Source: The Edge
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