KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 — Bursa Malaysia snapped its strong showing over the past two days to end in the red today, weighed by profit-taking in heavyweights in the financial services sector.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) finished 7.06 points lower at 1,674.35 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,681.41.

It opened 2.86 points better at 1,684.27 and moved between 1,669.69 and 1,684.30 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 790 to 445, while 454 counters were unchanged, 454 untraded and 45 others suspended.

Total volume decreased to 9.24 billion shares worth RM4.33 billion from 11.22 billion shares valued at RM5.21 billion yesterday.

Meanwhile, Asian peers were mixed amidst the decline in the overnight United States (US) stocks performance although the Dow (mini) is positive at press time, as Wall Street investors reacted positively to news that US lawmakers were nearing a coronavirus relief deal as well as the US Federal Reserve’s indication that interest rates will remain near zero at least through 2023.

China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange rose 1.13 per cent to 3,404.87, Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.49 per cent to 2,858.59, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.18 per cent to 26,806.67, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.82 per cent to 26,678.38 and South Korea’s Kospi slid 0.05 per cent to 2,770.43.

On the local front, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the bourse opened higher but retreated thereafter on profit-taking in heavyweight stocks, led by the top FBM KLCI constituents and stocks in the financial services sector.

"The Covid-19 fears resurfaced, affecting sentiment in the market after South Korea saw a new record number of deaths on Thursday,” he told Bernama.

He said among the 30 FBM KLCI constituents, Telekom saw the largest drop of 2.55 per cent for the day while Kuala Lumpur Kepong led gainers with a 3.33 per cent jump.

On a sectoral basis, he noted the Financial Index recorded the biggest drop of 1.40 per cent due to some profit-taking ahead of the holiday season while Plantation Index led gainers, rising 0.89 per cent on the back of steady crude palm oil prices in recent times.

Among heavyweights, Public Bank fell 38 sen to RM21.50, Petronas Chemicals shed four sen to RM7.56 and Top Glove eased seven sen to RM6.70.

Maybank added three sen to RM8.70 while Tenaga was flat at RM10.80.  

Of the actives, Seacera’s warrant edged up half-a-sen to one sen, Sino Hua-An eased half-a sen to 18.5 sen, while Focus Dynamic’s warrant, Sapura Energy and Bumi Armada were flat at 3.5 sen, 13 sen and 38.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 69.28 points lower at 12,031.71, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 69.30 points to 11,794.20, the FBM 70 declined 166.97 points to 15,367.84, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 15.18 points to 13,418.28, while the FBM ACE gained 17.0 points to 10,603.26.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 0.07 of-a-point to 175.74, the Financial Services Index dropped 223.69 points to 15,726.21, but the Plantation Index climbed 65.61 points to 7,429.38.

The Main Market volume shrank to 5.95 billion shares worth RM3.59 billion from 7.84 billion shares worth RM4.40 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover dwindled to 700.92  million units worth RM118.83 million from 912.82 million units valued at RM155.06 million previously.

Volume on the ACE Market increased to 2.59 billion shares worth RM622.36 million from 2.47 billion shares worth RM655.57 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services accounted for 639.57 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.45 billion), construction (672.21 million), technology (303.68 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (94.77 million), property (756.08 million), plantations (64.78 million), REITs (14.87 million), closed/fund (24,200), energy (1.63 billion), healthcare (65.90 million), telecommunications and media (93.71 million), transportation and logistics (73.64 million), and utilities (86.0 million). — Bernama