KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — Bursa Malaysia closed lower today as concerns on the economic impact of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus dampened investors’ confidence in local equities.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 14.53 points to 1,531.06 from yesterday’s close of 1,545.59.
After opening 1.34 points weaker at 1,544.25, the benchmark index moved between 1,530.69 and 1,552.46 throughout the day.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 897 to 159, with 284 counters unchanged, 651 untraded and 77 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 3.78 billion shares worth RM3.29 billion from 2.80 billion shares worth RM2.31 billion yesterday.
Kenanga Research said investors are increasingly shifting to risk-off mode, reflecting heightened worries over the severity of the outbreak.
The research house said the FBM KLCI has declined by over four per cent since the outbreak, while the ringgit depreciated by 0.7 per cent against the US dollar after the first case was detected in Malaysia on Jan 25.
“With eight cases reported, we maintain our view that the government may inject a stimulus package of RM5 billion to RM10 billion as early as mid-February to provide immediate relief to the affected sectors, in cognisance of Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s statement on the government’s readiness to act,” it said in a research note today.
The decline on the FBM KLCI was also in line with the movements in regional stocks, as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down by 0.52 per cent to 26,312.63, Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell by 0.55 per cent to 3,153.17 and the Jakarta Composite Index eased by 1.93 per cent to 5,940.68.
Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank lost six sen to RM8.43, Public Bank eased 30 sen to RM18.60, Tenaga was two sen lower at RM12.46 and Petronas Chemicals decreased 26 sen to RM6.19.
Of the actives, Sapura Energy declined one sen to 24.5 sen, Bumi Armada shed 3.5 sen to 35.5 sen and Avillion erased 1.5 sen to 14.5 sen.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index was 139.85 points lower at 10,890.12, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 160.31 points to 11,552.70 and the FBMT 100 Index fell 123.19 points to 10,703.59.
Meanwhile, the FBM 70 erased 245.88 points to 13,651.50 and the FBM ACE decreased 244.00 points to 5,377.22
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 3.91 points to 143.31, the Financial Services Index declined 107.63 points to 14,782.26 and the Plantation Index was 13.09 points weaker at 7,143.62.
Main Market volume rose to 2.59 billion shares worth RM2.98 billion from 1.79 billion shares worth RM2.05 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover increased to 547.33 million units worth RM105.07 million from 460.52 million units worth RM86.72 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market expanded to 644.87 million shares worth RM196.75 million from 557.77 million shares worth RM174.48 million previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 536.01 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (337.32 million), construction (198.32 million), technology (217.60 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (86.76 million), property (177.99 million), plantations (75.32 million), REITs (17.61 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (711.41 million), healthcare (87.66 million), telecommunications and media (43.16 million), transportation and logistics (61.39 million) and utilities (45.82 million). — Bernama
