KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — Share prices on Bursa Malaysia settled lower for the second consecutive day today as the local market was seen entering a period of congestion following the recent rally, said a dealer.

At 5pm, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) finished 6.13 points lower at 1,698.35.

The index, which opened at 1,706.48 from yesterday’s close of 1,704.48, moved between 1,696.48 and 1,707.31 throughout the day.

Market breadth was negative, with losers outnumbering gainers 530 to 358, while 360 counters were unchanged, 472 untraded and 53 others suspended.

Volume, however, rose to 3.01 billion units worth RM2.56 billion against yesterday’s 2.79 billion units worth RM2.67 billion.

Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd Head of Research Pong Teng Siew said the rally had been seen on the local bourse before and after the Lunar New Year since last month.

"Certainly, it appears to be a profit-taking exercise as we see a normal and quieter market after the Chinese New Year,” he told Bernama.

"The boost in the liquidity that occurred since end of last year probably would not be a substantial boost as it gets exhausted and comes to an end,” he said.

However, Pong believes the rally has yet to finish.

"We are not quite ending the rally yet, it just doesn’t move very much upside at this point,” he added.

Meanwhile, in a note today, Kenanga Research said the KLCI appeared to be poised for a near-term profit-taking after briefly notching a reaction-high of 1,720 earlier in the week.

"We see the possibility of the KLCI pulling back towards 1,695/1,700 level before garnering some support,” it said.

Of the heavyweights, Axiata and IHH Healtcare lost 24 sen each to RM4.29 and RM5.91, respectively, Genting Malaysia fell 19 sen to RM5.28, while Maybank improved 20 sen to RM8.60.

Among actives, Bumi Armada slid 2.5 sen to 75 sen, Airasia eased six sen to RM2.70 but Frontken and Vivocom added one sen each to 22.5 sen and 18 sen, respectively.

The FBM Emas Index eased 47.06 points to 11,975.51, the FBMT100 Index shed 45.11 points to 11,652.55, the FBM 70 gave up 65.51 points to 13,871.85, while the FBM Ace surged 82.18 points to 5,389.98.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Index was 7.02 points lower at 3,285.28, but the Finance Index jumped 79.34 points to 15,127.70 and the Plantation Index advanced 18.32 points to 8,070.35. Main Market turnover fell to 2.18 billion units worth RM2.42 billion from 2.22 billion units worth RM2.57 billion yesterday.

The ACE Market doubled to 638.13 million shares valued at RM103.25 million from yesterday’s 328.81 million shares valued at RM66.90 million.

Warrants also narrowed to 189.52 units worth RM33.20 million from 217.06 million units worth RM31.82 million previously.

Consumer products accounted for 78.05 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (323.36 million), construction (132.59 million), trade and services (1.06 billion), technology (286.71 million), infrastructure (9.37 million), SPAC (53.42 million), finance (91.16 million), hotels (2.61 million), properties (89.66 million), plantations (36.89 million), mining (10,000), REITs (10.39 million), and closed/fund (71,500). — Bernama