Bursa Malaysia wraps up the week below 1,510 mark

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 ― Bursa Malaysia wrapped up the week below the 1,510 level, ending the day at its intra-day low amid a mixed regional market performance as the number of Covid-19 cases rose worldwide.

A dealer said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI’s (FBM KLCI) performance was also weighed down by the ongoing political uncertainty in the country.

At 5pm, the benchmark index closed 10.11 points or 0.67 per cent lower at 1,503.84 from 1,513.95 at yesterday’s close.

The market barometer opened 5.38 points higher at 1,519.33 and swung between 1,503.84 and 1,520.31 during the day's trading.

Market breadth, however, remained positive with gainers leading losers 583 to 488, while 431 counters were unchanged, 643 untraded and 25 others suspended.

Total volume surged to 8.70 billion units worth RM4.76 billion from 6.29 billion units worth RM4.74 billion yesterday, thanks to the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) which boosted retail participation as many employees started to work from home during this period.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.41 per cent to 23,410.63 and South Korea’s KOSPI Composite Index shrank 0.83 per cent to 2,341.53 but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.94 per cent to 24,386.79.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd research vice-president Vincent Lau noted that retail participants were mostly invested in the technology and healthcare sectors, such as the rubber glove and pharmaceutical counters, due to the global resurgence of Covid-19 cases.

“Despite the selling in index-linked counters, overall trading activities across the board remained vibrant due to the liquidity injected by the retail players during the CMCO,” he told Bernama.

The CMCO in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya runs from October 14-27, while in Sabah, it is being enforced from Oct 13-26.

Among the 30 FBM KLCI constituents, nearly two-thirds were in the red, with losses led by Public Bank which retreated 24 sen to RM15.86.

Petronas Chemicals slipped 11 sen to RM5.86, Petronas Dagangan was 84 sen lower at RM18.98, Axiata lost nine sen to RM2.72 and Maxis was 10 sen easier at RM4.92.

Top losers included Nestle, which slumped RM2.10 to RM139.40, while F&N dipped 66 sen to RM31.74 and PPB erased 42 sen to RM19.08.

Mah Sing remained the most actively traded counter on the bourse, rising 22 sen to 94.5 sen, followed by AT Systematization which inched up 1.5 sen to 8.5 sen.

 Luster Industries garnered three sen to 17.5 sen and Pegasus Heights was unchanged at 2.5 sen.

ACE Market-debutant Southern Cable stood at 33 sen, down one sen from its initial public offering price of 34 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 39.92 points to 10,938.07, the FBMT 100 Index contracted 50.10 points to 10,740.22 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 32.65 points to 13,140.61.

The FBM 70 perked 17.57 points to 14,571.71 and the FBM ACE jumped 96.03 points to 10,971.88.

The Financial Services Index eased 53.92 points to 12,409.67, the Plantation Index dropped 54.20 points to 6,858.51 and the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.65 of-a-point to 143.60.

The Healthcare Index, however, advanced 58.06 points to 4,227.17.

The Main Market volume widened to 4.58 billion shares worth RM3.71 billion compared with 3.62 billion shares worth RM3.46 billion on Thursday.

Warrants turnover jumped to 1.13 billion units valued at RM249.27 million versus 905.30 million units valued at RM214.06 million on Thursday.

Volume on the ACE Market surged to 2.98 billion shares worth RM808.41 million from 1.76 billion shares worth RM1.06 billion on Thursday.

Consumer products and services accounted for 886.94 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (779.80 million), construction (1.6 billion), technology (232.46 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (33.87 million), property (1.35 billion), plantations (49.96 million), REITs (9.01 million), closed/fund (2,400), energy (100.45 million), healthcare (118.42 million), telecommunications and media (28.80 million), transportation and logistics (75.74 million), and utilities (33.05 million). ― Bernama