KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 ― Bursa Malaysia ended its morning session lower, in line with regional peers amid the unabated concerns over the Covid-19 outbreak, which has now been declared by the World Health Organisation as a pandemic.
The Nikkei sank 4.65 per cent to 18,513.02, the Hang Seng went down 3.81 per cent to 24,269.06, the Kospi slipped 4.75 per cent to 1,817.60 and the Straits Times Index shed 3.89 per cent to 2,675.39.
At 12.30pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 20.06 points or 1.38 per cent to 1,423.77, from yesterday’s close of 1,443.83.
At the opening bell, the FBM KLCI opened 12.42 points weaker at 1,431.41 and moved between 1,423.02 and 1,432.70 throughout the morning session.
Market breadth was negative as losers thumped gainers 887 to 134, with 173 counters unchanged, 822 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover amounted to 2.21 billion shares worth RM1.42 billion.
Market sentiment also turned downbeat; the FBM Small Cap, Financial, FBM ACE, Energy and Plantation were among indices that declined, but the Healthcare index gained 11.60 points to 1,359.59.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said amid the renewed market choppiness, glove manufacturers may continue their upward trajectory.
Hartalega and Top Glove gained 16 sen and 39 sen each to RM6.64 and RM6.67 respectively.
Bank Islam chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the rubber glove industry has built up its production capacity in recent years.
“This would include automation in their production processes which would speed up their productivity level. I believe there is a surge in demand for their products currently. Therefore, they are able to meet the demand and help boost their top line/revenue growth,” he told Bernama.
Mohd Afzanizam said safe-haven instruments such as bonds or sukuk would be highly sought after investments despite their lower yields.
“What matters now is the preservation capital or investment principle. So we will continue to see a shift in demand from risky assets such as equities to bonds/sukuk,” he explained.
Asked if the index would break into the 1,300 level, which was last seen in 2010, if the virus continues to spread, he said such a level is quite possible.
“However, we have seen the number of recovered cases globally stand at 66,251 cases, which is like a 55 per cent recovery rate out of the confirmed cases of 120,772, so perhaps there is buying opportunity too, especially for those with a longer-term investment horizon,” he said.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank dropped 10 sen to RM8.29, TNB declined 22 sen to RM12.40, Public Bank depreciated 32 sen to RM16.48 while IHH Healthcare was three sen weaker at RM5.56.
Of the actives, Bumi Armada lost one sen to 17 sen, Jaks Resources slipped 13 sen to 92 sen and Hibiscus Petroleum was 2.5 sen easier at 41 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index contracted 182.12 points to 9,898.26, the FBM Emas Shariah Index narrowed 158.31 points to 10,560.20 and the FBM 70 gave up 311.79 points to 11,761.19.
The FBMT 100 Index erased 164.94 points to 9,780.02 and the FBM Ace depreciated 234.09 points to 4,490.43.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 3.08 points to 120.37, the Financial Services Index reduced 303.27 points to 13,610.19 and the Plantation Index was 109.46 points lower at 6,284.12. ― Bernama
