KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 ― Bursa Malaysia ended broadly lower at mid-morning, with selling pressure seen across the board as investors digested the release of Malaysia’s second quarter (Q2) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data today.
Bank Negara Malaysia announced that the Q2 GDP contracted 17.1 per cent, the worst double-digit quarterly decline since 1998, due to the unprecedented lockdown that was imposed to stem the spread of Covid-19 that brought the economy to almost a complete standstill.
At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 13.0 points to 1,563.42 from yesterday's close of 1,576.42.
The key index opened 2.37 points better at 1,578.79 and moved between 1,561.84 and 1,579.63 throughout the morning session.
Market breadth was negative, with losers thumping gainers 968 to 149, while 252 counters were unchanged, 627 untraded and 33 others suspended.
Trading volume stood at 6.52 billion shares worth RM2.43 billion.
Regionally, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange declined 0.17 per cent to 3,315.23, Singapore's Straits Times Index edged up 0.01 per cent to 2,596.32, Japan’s Nikkei Index rose 0.11 per cent to 23,275.27 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index reduced 0.10 per cent to 25,205.75.
Asian markets were mixed tracking the weaker overnight performance of Wall Street amid lacklustre Chinese economic data and concerns over the delay in US fiscal stimulus, discouraging some investors from taking on risk.
“Although US jobless claims fell, no updates overnight on US stimulus talks continued to cloud the view, triggering a modest level of 'risk-off' investor behaviour in most markets,” said AxiCorp chief global market strategist Stephen Innes.
On the local front, a dealer said the market opened higher but retreated thereafter to stay in the red throughout the morning session, with selling activities seen across the board.
Trading volume remained high as investors took profits after yesterday’s upbeat performance, she added.
Of the heavyweights, Maybank slid two sen to RM7.78, Public Bank fell 22 sen to RM17.58, Top Glove slipped 84 sen to RM24.16, Tenaga shed eight sen to RM11.08 and Hartalega declined 36 sen to RM16.20.
Among the most active, XOX shed four sen to 21.5 sen, Sapura Energy eased half-a-sen to 12.5 sen, Pegasus reduced one sen to three sen, while Priceworth and Trive Property were flat at four sen and two sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 123.53 points to 11,146.12, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 156.16 points lower at 12,937.75 and the FBMT 100 Index slipped 113.25 points to 10,978.27.
The FBM 70 dropped 232.83 points to 14,168.72 and the FBM ACE tumbled 411.70 points to 9,687.30.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was down 124.42 points at 13,264.14, the Plantation Index shed 35.64 points to 6,988.65 and the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 1.40 points to 138.28. ― Bernama
