KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session lower, as market sentiment was clouded by Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) less cheerful economic outlook for 2020.
In its annual report 2019 released today, the central bank said the Covid-19 catastrophe would have a significant impact on Malaysia’s economy, with the gross domestic product (GDP) growth expected to decline to between -2.0 and 0.5 per cent in 2020 versus 4.3 per cent last year.
At 12.30pm, key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 5.51 points, or 0.41 per cent to 1,325.39 from 1,330.90 at Thursday’s close.
The key index opened 0.66 point firmer at 1,331.56 and moved between 1,325.36 and 1,333.82 throughout the morning session.
Market breadth continued to stay negative, with losers leading gainers 457 to 231, while 328 counters were unchanged, 905 untraded and 19 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 3.47 billion shares worth RM1.35 billion.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said the pullback on Bursa Malaysia was also accompanied by quick profit-taking activities.
“We see the emergence of buying momentum in energy shares amid the on-going recovery in crude oil prices, “ it said in a note today.
In a separate note today, AxiCorp global chief market strategist Stephen Innes said global crude oil prices soared 22.1 per cent after the US President Donald Trump indicated that he expects Russia and Saudi Arabia would agree to reduce production by “approximately 10 million barrels, and maybe substantially more”.
Of the heavyweights, Petronas Dagangan dipped RM1.20 to RM20.50, Sime Darby Plantation reduced 12 sen to RM4.63, Public Bank erased 20 sen to RM15.60, Nestle slumped RM1.60 to RM136.20 and IHH was four sen weaker at RM5.02.
Nestle and Petronas Dagangan also led the top losers list on the local bourse.
Top gainers included Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia, which rose 28 sen to RM26.56, Hartalega increased 14 sen to RM6.94 and PMB Technology added 13 sen to RM2.88.
The most active counters continued to be dominated by oil and gas- linked stocks. Hibiscus put on 1.5 sen to 44.5 sen, Sapura Energy and KNM inched up half-a-sen each to 9.5 sen and 14.5 sen respectively, while Velesto and Armada were unchanged at 16.5 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 40.19 points to 9,145.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index retreated 40.77 points to 10,017.16 while the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 36.76 points to 9,059.77.
The FBM 70 eased 39.58 points to 10,705.18 and the FBM Ace dwindled 91.37 points to 3,875.11.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.32 of-a-point to 104.57, the Financial Services Index weakened 24.37 points to 12,052.62 and the Plantation Index went down 84.39 points to 6,041.89. ― Bernama
