KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 — Bursa Malaysia ended trading on a weak note today, weighed down by broad-based sell-off in line with its regional peers as the market braced for a fresh round of trade war between the US and China.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 1.01 per cent or 16.35 points to finish at 1,610.41 from Friday’s close of 1,626.76.
The FBM KLCI, which opened 5.64 points weaker at 1,621.12, moved between 1,610.41 and 1,621.68 throughout the day.
Losers outmuscled gainers on the broader market by 828 to 163, with 287 counters remained unchanged, 609 untraded and 18 other suspended.
Turnover rose to 2.67 billion units worth RM1.86 billion versus Friday’s close of 2.22 billion units worth RM1.76 billion.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said sentiment on the stock market still looking frail, amid an escalation in the US-China trade war, that is also set to prolong the already dour global trend.
It added that the trade dispute was likely to remain a long-drawn affair which will keep market sentiment in check for much longer.
“Lower liners and broader market shares are also undergoing a consolidation spell that looked to continue over the near-term.
“Just like the index-linked shares, we see shares succumbing to increase selling activities as equity sentiment is turning weaker, and this could keep more retail players on the sidelines,” it said in a note earlier today.
Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 2.85 per cent to 26,151.32, Japan’s Nikkei 225 decreased 1.74 per cent to 20,720.29 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index went down 1.97 per cent to 3,197.04.
Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights, Maybank trimmed seven sen to RM8.58, Public Bank slipped 22 sen to RM21.56, TNB gave up eight sen to RM13.78, Petronas Chemicals depreciated 20 sen to RM7.23 while IHH Healthcare and CIMB were five sen easier to RM5.68 and RM5.03, respectively.
As for the actives, Xinghe Holdings edged up half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, Netx was flat at 1.5 sen. KNM eased 3.5 sen to 36 sen and Priceworth International inched down half-a-sen to six sen.
The FBM Emas Index shrank 136.27 points to 11,380.52, the FBMT 100 Index narrowed 129.11 points to 11,215.89 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slumped 132.89 points to 11,793.63.
The FBM 70 trimmed 225.46 points to 14,130.76 and the FBM Ace lost 103.29 points at 4,586.05.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gave up 142.84 points to 15,822.03, the Plantation Index shaved off 79.06 points to 6,610.11 and the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 3.17 points to 151.05.
Main Market volume increased to 1.67 billion shares valued at RM1.66 billion against Friday’s 1.32 billion shares valued at RM1.58 billion.
Warrants turnover went up to 507.81 million units worth RM139.48 million versus 506.77 million units worth RM122.91 million.
Volume on the ACE Market expanded to 488.08 million shares valued at RM64.63 million from 385.79 million shares valued at RM55.37 million previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 243.11 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (275.56 million), construction (129.66 million), technology (114.49 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (45.85 million), property (170.98 million), plantations (13.64 million), REITs (14.62 million), closed/fund (10,000), energy (381.33 million), healthcare (18.78 million), telecommunications and media (194.42 million), transportation and logistics (43.41 million) and utilities (23.09 million). — Bernama
