KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — Continuous selling in selected heavyweights dragged down the key index on Bursa Malaysia to end the day’s trading on a weak note, amid mixed regional peers’ performance, dealers said.

However, the broader market saw gainers exceeding losers by 614 to 447, while 383 counters were unchanged, 567 untraded and 24 others suspended.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended 2.47 points easier at 1,575.38 from yesterday’s close of 1,577.85, fluctuating between 1,570.7 and 1,584.36 throughout the day.

The key index opened 1.47 points weaker at 1,576.38 this morning and moved mostly in negative territory but recovered slightly during the afternoon session.

However, late selling emerged about 10 minutes before trading ended.

Losses in Hartalega, Tenaga, Public Bank, Nestle, Hap Seng, and Petronas Dagangan had contributed heavily to the performance.

Strong gains in Top Glove helped to cushion the downtrend trajectory. The glove maker’s stock surged RM1.06 to RM27.14 with 26.13 million shares changing hands, contributing a substantial 5.824 points to the composite index.

Of the other rubber glove stocks, Supermax bagged 14 sen to RM20.94 while Kossan Rubber rose 26 sen to RM16.26.

Total volume on Bursa decreased sharply to 8.56 billion shares worth RM7.01 billion from Tuesday’s 10.6 billion shares worth RM6.92 billion.

Of the heavyweights, Public Bank lost 18 sen to RM17.48 and Tenaga fell 16 sen to RM11.00.

Maybank added one sen to RM7.64 while Petronas Chemicals, despite posting a lower profit in the second quarter financial results, ended five sen higher at RM6.20.

Among the most active, XOX inched up half-a-sen to 19.5 sen, Notion added one sen to RM1.54, Vsolar slipped half-a-sen to five sen, while DGB was flat at 5.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 2.39 points to 11,298.24, the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 45.28 points to 13,280.36 while the FBM 70 rose 40.57 points to 14,541.02.

However, the FBM ACE gave up 156.71 points for 10,281.52 and the FBMT 100 Index declined 5.34 points to 11,112.68.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index earned 13.78 points to 7,020.54, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.87 point to 141.88, but the Financial Services Index fell 59.43 points for 13,117.69.

Main Market volume decreased sharply to 3.88 billion shares valued at RM4.89 billion compared with 5.62 billion shares worth RM5.06 billion on Tuesday.

Warrants turnover widened to 650.25 million units valued at RM249.14 million from 647.87 million units worth RM232.29 million.

Volume on the ACE Market expanded to 4.02 billion shares valued at RM1.86 billion from yesterday’s 4.34 billion shares worth RM1.62 billion.

Consumer products and services accounted for 567.81 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.20 billion), construction (141.62 million), technology (614.85 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (49.51 million), property (313.86 million), plantations (103.02 million), REITs (9.61 million), closed/fund (22,800), energy (463.8 million), healthcare (113.11 million), telecommunications and media (90.41 million), transportation and logistics (102.23 million), and utilities (106.23 million).

Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries will be closed tomorrow for Awal Muharram celebrations. The bourse’s operations will resume on Aug 21. — Bernama