KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — Bursa Malaysia fell today, taking the cue from under-performing global markets, as investors stayed on the sidelines.
At the close, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 2.12 points to end at 1,674.49 compared to yesterday’s close of 1,676.61.
The index, which opened 2.38 points lower at 1,674.23, moved between a low of 1,672.59 and a high of 1,677.17 throughout the day.
Losers outpaced gainers 395 to 305, while 447 counters were unchanged, 746 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Turnover, however, rose to 1.83 billion units valued at RM1.55 billion from 1.78 billion units valued at RM1.75 billion yesterday.
Inter-Pacific Securities head of research Pong Teng Siew said the market was holding on at the current level with trading being thin compared to the daily average, as most investors were away from the market.
He said the market was taking a breather with not much movement seen in the FBM KLCI.
“Investors are also getting defensive, not really much buying into the most volatile stocks. Usually retail investors are very active in buying most volatile penny stocks but today not much is happening in that area.
“But I expect very late on Friday there could be a surge. The index may make a run above 1,680,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, Phillip Capital Management Asia-Pacific senior vice president (investment) Datuk Nazri Khan Adam Khan said going forward, FBM KLCI should consolidate after the overbought condition and regain upside momentum, tracking more downswings on Wall Street on uncertain Federal Reserve (Fed) testimony and slump in the prices of commodities.
“Stocks took a knock and the US dollar rowed back from three-month lows after US central bankers tempered expectations of a larger-than-usual rate cut and as sentiment remained cautious ahead of a meeting between American and Chinese leaders later this week,” Nazri said.
The reaction came after US President Donald Trump criticised the Fed on Monday for not cutting interest rates last week and for raising interest rates too quickly last year.
In Asia, Nazri said, markets were losing ground in the early hours on news of reinforced dovish signals from the Fed on top of a cautious stance ahead of the scheduled G20 summit this Friday where the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies would meet.
“On the domestic front, we saw an encouraging growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first quarter (Q1).
“Fundamentally, we expect positive follow-through from this positive sentiment, especially in the manufacturing sector,” he said.
It was reported that realised FDI rose to RM21.7 billion in Q1 from RM12.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018.
From the technical perspective, immediate support is seen at 1,658 points, supported by the meaningful support at 1,600 points.
Conversely, resistance is seen at the 1,700-point psychological threshold.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank was one sen lower at RM8.92, Public Bank was flat at RM23.02 and Tenaga was 22 sen weaker at RM13.78.
CIMB, meanwhile, added four sen to RM5.38 and IHH Healthcare rose two sen to RM5.80.
As for the active stocks, Lambo and Impiana were unchanged at 6.5 sen and four sen, respectively.
V.S. Industry dropped three sen to RM1.09 and Focus Dynamic increased two sen to 18 sen.
The FBM Emas Index fell 14.57 points to 11,792.65, the FBMT 100 Index was down 15.47 points at 11,646.73 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 36.95 points to 12,126.62.
The FBM 70 shed 22.13 points to 14,613.30 while the FBM Ace went up 63.31 points to 4,455.32.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gained 25.67 points to 16,732.60, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.26 of-a-point to 160.77 while the Plantation Index was 3.28 points weaker at 6,972.98.
Main Market volume, however, rose to 1.1 billion shares worth RM1.38 billion from 1.03 billion shares worth RM1.55 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover slid to 424.78 million units valued at RM91.33 million from 471.8 million units valued at RM128.97 million.
Volume on the ACE Market increased to 303.02 million shares worth RM70.16 million from 283.54 million shares worth RM68.55 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 228.98 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (191.49 million), construction (86.74 million), technology (90.54 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (43.71 million), property (188.64 million), plantation (9.61 million), REITs (5.92 million), closed/fund (4,000), energy (157.14 million), healthcare (13.82 million), telecommunications and media (46.74 million), transportation and logistics (20.66 million) and utilities (11.68 million). — Bernama
