KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Persistent profit-taking from selected plantation and financial services counters resulted in Bursa Malaysia ending at an intraday low on Thursday (Aug 17), amid mixed sentiments on regional stock markets.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI had slipped 15.53 points to 1,447.98, from 1,463.51 at Wednesday’s close.
The barometer index opened 2.90 points easier at 1,460.61, and moved slightly up to a high of 1,460.76 during the day.
Turnover widened to 4.34 billion units worth RM2.56 billion, from 3.62 billion units worth RM2.21 billion on Wednesday.
Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd were the top two contributors towards the benchmark index’s downtrend, with a combined contribution of 3.77 points. The plantation giant lost 14 sen to RM4.31, while the banking group erased nine sen to close at RM5.64 a share.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the KLCI ended lower due to profit-taking activities following the recent rally.
“Key regional indices were also in the red, following negative cues from global markets overnight, after the release of minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee, whereby investors were worried about the [possibility] of the US raising interest rates [further],” he told Bernama.
Back home, he said Thursday's selldown was a healthy correction, and will provide buying opportunities for investors, given the cheaper valuations of stocks on Bursa compared to other regional markets.
“Despite the cautious market undertone globally, we reckon buying activities will resume, due to strong support from foreign funds. As such, we anticipate the KLCI to trend within 1,445-1,455 towards the weekend. On a technical point of view, we see immediate resistance at 1,465, and support at 1,440,” he said.
Among other heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) at RM8.97 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd at RM6.79 had declined six sen each, Public Bank Bhd went down three sen to RM4.16, Tenaga Nasional Bhd lost four sen to RM9.95, and IHH Healthcare Bhd was five sen lower at RM5.95.
Among the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd earned half a sen to 6.5 sen, Aimflex Bhd went up 1.5 sen to 22 sen, UEM Sunrise Bhd advanced two sen to 63 sen, while AwanBiru Technology Bhd (Awantec) declined 22.5 sen to 17.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 90.29 points lower at 10,679.57, the FBMT 100 Index shed 88.05 points to 10,364.66, the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 89.53 points to 10,877.42, the FBM 70 Index erased 22.20 points to 14,138.25, and the FBM ACE Index was 64.20 points down to 5,313.54.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 122.48 points to 16,293.46, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.77 of a point to 167.67, the Plantation Index dipped 113.60 points to 6,920.60, while the Energy Index shed 15.40 points to 814.87.
The Main Market volume widened to 3.18 billion units valued at RM2.27 billion, from 2.45 billion units valued at RM1.92 billion on Wednesday.
Warrant turnover slipped to 398.44 million units worth RM60.76 million, versus Wednesday's 349.78 million units worth RM55.04 million.
The ACE Market volume declined to 753.73 million shares valued at RM227.91 million, compared with 822.04 million shares valued at RM238.89 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 425.14 million shares traded on the Main Market, along with industrial products and services (396.43 million), construction (197.85 million), technology (850.54 million), special purpose acquisition companies (nil), financial services (79.70 million), property (674.57 million), plantation (42.82 million), real estate investment trusts (13.88 million), closed/funds (75,800), energy (270.47 million), healthcare (67.14 million), telecommunications and media (32.31 million), transportation and logistics (70.98 million), and utilities (55.72 million).
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