Bursa Malaysia ends lower, CI dragged down by PChem

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 — Bursa Malaysia ended in the red amidst a choppy trading day today, as the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was dragged down by Petronas Chemicals (PChem) due to its weaker earnings performance announced earlier today.

At the close, the index declined 5.69 points to 1,495.19 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,500.88.

Throughout the day, the FBM KLCI moved between 1,485.24 to 1,508.53.

On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 538 to 350, while 393 counters were unchanged, 720 untraded and 25 others suspended.

Turnover rose to 3.86 billion shares worth RM3.07 billion compared with 3.10 billion shares worth RM2.75 billion yesterday.

PChem which announced its financial results today saw its net profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2019 (FY19) declined to RM2.81 billion from RM4.79 billion a year ago.

Its basic earnings per share declined to 35 sen from 60 sen before.

In its filing to Bursa Malaysia today, PChem said the results of the group’s operations were expected to be primarily influenced by global economic conditions, foreign exchange rate movements, utilisation rate of its production facilities, and petrochemical products prices which have a high correlation to crude oil price, particularly for the olefins and derivatives segment.

Meanwhile, an analyst said that the market has a high chance of rebounding tomorrow after the Interim Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in his special address to the nation today said no matter what transpired in the coming days, the nation’s interest comes first.

“The Interim Prime Minister has shown his dedication to put the country’s economy back on the right path, with the much-anticipated economic stimulus to be announced tomorrow after much speculation,” she said.

On the technical side, the local bourse is expected to recover with the support level at 1,480 and the immediate resistance level at 1,510.

Among heavyweights, PChem was down 55 sen to RM5.85, Public Bank fell 32 sen to RM17.20 and IHH slid three sen to RM5.66.

Maybank and Tenaga Nasional, meanwhile, were both in the positive territory, putting on five sen and eight sen to RM8.33 and RM12.38, respectively.

On the local bourse, consumer products were the top losers, with Carlsberg declining RM1.44 to RM35.76 while Heineken fell 64 sen to RM28.36 and Dutchlady dipped 62 sen to RM43.88.

As for the actives, Advance Synergy rose seven sen to 22 sen, Radiant Global gained three sen to 36 sen and Powerwell added 3.5 sen to 41 sen.

On the index board, almost all indices were in the red, with the FBM Emas Index decreasing 65.47 points to 10,670.03 while the FBMT 100 Index dipped 61.52 points to 10,464.11 and the FBM Ace shed 16.24 points to 5,679.44.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 76.02 points to 11,351.17 while the FBM 70 slid 167.70 points to 13,392.37.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was lower by 4.62 points at 138.84, while the Financial Services Index lost 23.76 points to 14,376.10 and the Plantation Index advanced 31.76 points to 6,971.31.

Main Market volume leapt to 2.25 billion shares worth RM2.69 billion compared with 1.84 billion shares worth RM2.43 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover improved to 467.90 million units worth RM88.16 million from yesterday’s 451.93 million units worth RM81.78 million.

Volume on the ACE Market expanded to 847.89 million units worth RM287.31 million against 826.60 million units worth RM243.35 on Tuesday.

Consumer products and services accounted for 802.92 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (366.99 million), construction (103.13 million), technology (360.38 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (71.96 million), property (143.47 million), plantations (49.13 million), REITs (16.50 million), closed/fund (500), energy (436.27 million), healthcare (53.09 million), telecommunications and media (57.00 million), transportation and logistics (40.96 million), and utilities (48.59 million). — Bernama