KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 — Bursa Malaysia closed slightly lower today, in line with most of the regional markets, as late buying in selected heavyweights capped some of the earlier losses, dealers said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 1.34 points or 0.09 per cent to finish at 1,560.93, the highest level for the day, from 1,562.27 at yesterday’s close.
The benchmark index opened 8.28 points lower at 1,553.99 and dipped to its intraday low of 1,550.92 earlier in the day before recouping most of the earlier losses.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 492 to 339, with 378 counters unchanged, 760 untraded and 17 others suspended.
Volume slipped to 2.13 billion shares worth RM1.70 billion from 2.34 billion shares worth RM1.74 billion on Tuesday.
A dealer said most of the Asian stock markets were sharply lower today, on growing worries among investors as the US President Donald Trump announced the trade deal with China might have to be postponed until after the 2020 elections.
He said with less than two weeks before the next US tariff hike on Chinese goods on Dec 15 this year, investors have begun shifting their money back to safe-haven assets.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.05 per cent to 23,135.23, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 1.25 per cent to 26,062.56 while Singapore’s Straits Times Index lost 0.45 per cent to 3,158.82.
On the local bourse, heavyweights Maybank was one sen lower at RM8.50, Public Bank fell 16 sen to RM19.30, TNB jumped 38 sen to RM13.40, Petronas Chemicals rose six sen to RM7.10 while CIMB was flat at RM5.15.
Of the actives, Impiana Hotels was flat at 2.5 sen, Mudajaya added five sen to 39.5 sen, Bumi Armada went down 1.5 sen to 48 sen while Sapura Energy eased half-a-sen to 27 sen.
The FBM Emas Index declined 7.38 points to 11,070.98, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 7.19 points to 10,884.33, the FBM Ace was up 46.38 points at 4,808.73, the FBM Emas Shariah Index put on 4.26 points to 11,611.85 and the FBM 70 slid 0.20 of-a-point to 13,766.84.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products & Services Index eased 0.04 of-a-point to 149.36, the Financial Services Index gained 9.95 points to 15,242.77 and the Plantation Index slid 9.63 points to 7,123.20.
Main Market volume fell to 1.44 billion shares worth RM1.53 billion from Tuesday’s 1.47 billion shares worth RM1.54 billion.
Warrants turnover went down to 283.59 million units valued at RM52.66 million from 287.14 million units valued at RM57.28 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market shrank to 412.56 million units worth RM118.79 million from 580.88 million units worth RM142.0 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 258.59 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (234.96 million), construction (239.25 million), technology (76.43 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (60.79 million), property (112.43 million), plantations (66.37 million), REITs (11.65 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (292.39 million), healthcare (20.99 million), telecommunications and media (31.84 million), transportation and logistics (17.48 million), and utilities (17.52 million). — Bernama
