KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — Shares extended their downtrend on Bursa Malaysia this afternoon as worries over global growth curbed investors' risk appetite.
At 3.03 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,781.24, down 22.79 points after fluctuating between 1,769.8 and 1,795.89 since morning.
The downtrend was dragged by losses in blue chips and heavyweights like TNB, which fell 52 sen to RM11.28, IHH Healthcare eased 18 sen to RM3.51 and Genting lost 32 sen to RM10.08.
Bursa Malaysia was also influenced by the negative movement in other Asian markets, with Japan's Nikkei 225 diving 610.66 points to 14,008.47, Hong Kong's Hang Seng erased 564.45 points to 21,470.97 and Singapore's Straits Times Index declined 16.83 points to 2,003.08.
On the scoreboard, the Finance Index gave up 114.75 points for 16,293.93, the Plantation Index decreased 84.18 points to 8,344.76 and the Industrial Index fell 47.99 points to 3,030.5.
The FBM Emas Index was 151.7 points lower at 12,304.64, the FBMT100 Index dropped 153.21 points to 12,022.65, the FBM 70 erased 170.39 points to 13,590.12 and the FBM Ace was 53.78 points weaker at 5,847.55.
Market breadth was negative as losers outpaced gainers 498 to 168, while 250 counters were unchanged, 676 untraded and 17 others were suspended.
Turnover amounted to 826.72 million shares worth RM1.117 billion.
Among actives, KNM Group added two sen to 63.5 sen while PDZ Holdings was flat at 12 sen.
For heavyweights, both Maybank and CIMB fell seven sen each to RM9.56 and RM6.85, respectively, Axiata Group slipped one sen to RM6.55 and Sime Darby lost 14 sen to RM8.85. — Bernama
