KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia ended lower today in tandem with regional peers, weighed down by selling in selected heavyweights, dealers said. At 5pm today, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 8.74 points to 1,718.12, after moving between 1,714.22 and 1,727.30 throughout the day.
Gainers led losers by 380 to 369, with 337 counters unchanged, 728 counters untraded and 13 others suspended.
Total volume declined to 1.45 billion units worth RM1.97 billion from yesterday’s 1.48 billion units worth RM1.74 billion.
A dealer said Southeast Asian stock markets were mostly flat to weaker on profit taking.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.13 per cent to 19,990.82, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.22 per cent to 26,694.66 and Singapore’s Straits Times reduced 0.71 per cent to 3,302.36.
Hong Leong Investment Bank said the FBM KLCI continued its downtrend given the internal and external headwinds, including the US rates hike timeline, Greece debt talk impasse, issues relating to 1Malaysia Development Bhd, potential Fitch Ratings downgrade and the weakening ringgit.
It said a swift recapture of the 1,750 level was vital for the local bourse in order to break its downtrend trajectory.
Among top losers, TNB declined 56 sen to RM12.60, MISC shed 41 sen to RM7.89, while Genting Bhd and Genting Plantations lost 21 sen each to RM8.19 and RM9.89, respectively.
AirAsia was the most actively traded stock today with its shares gaining 14 sen to RM1.67, followed by Bintai warrant (A) which rose five sen to 11 sen, Frontken added 1.5 sen to 25 sen and AirAsia X perked half-a-sen to 21 sen.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index decreased 37.39 points to 11,887.41, the FBMT100 Index fell 41.71 points to 11,581.66, and the FBM Emas Syariah Index declined 56.68 points to 12,352.06. The FBM Ace jumped 68.06 points to 6,190.58 and the FBM 70 advanced 18.86 points to 13,034.79. The Finance Index added 11.50 points to 15,556.30, the Plantation Index rose 7.22 points to 7,254.83 while the Industrial Index fell 22.50 points to 3,156.86.
Main Market volume decreased to 955.76 million shares worth RM1.84 billion from 980.83 million shares worth RM1.59 billion yesterday. Turnover on the ACE Market decreased to 311.87 million units valued at RM91.07 million from 335.65 million units valued at RM104.92 million. Warrants appreciated to 176.30 million shares worth RM45.02 million from 157.76 million shares worth RM41.85 million. Consumer products accounted for 60.82 million shares traded on the main market, industrial products (170.24 million), construction (29.98 million), trade and services (524.49 million), technology (37.09 million), infrastructure (12.0 million), SPAC (4.44 million), finance (38.44 million), hotels (3.31 million), properties (53.98 million), plantations (9.37 million), mining (15,000), REITS (11.57 million), and closed/fund (12,000). — Bernama
