KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — Bursa Malaysia ended in the red today, reversing gains recorded in the morning, as the latest wave of the Covid-19 pandemic continued to dim hopes of a global economic recovery.
At the close today, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 5.15 points to 1,495.20 after opening 5.2 points higher at 1,505.48.
Losers overtook gainers 737 to 291, while 440 counters were unchanged, 682 untraded and 79 others suspended.
Total volume declined to 4.66 billion shares worth RM3.43 billion compared with yesterday’s 4.71 billion shares worth RM4.10 billion.
ACE Market stocks continued their downtrend with the market index dipping 2.14 per cent, while in terms of sector, healthcare and utilities were the biggest laggards, slipping 1.44 per cent and 1.35 per cent, respectively.
An analyst said the bearish momentum was caused by dimming hopes that the economic recovery would be on track this quarter as more countries were expected to strengthen their movement control measures.
“With France set to announce new Covid-19 lockdowns and Germany moving to close restaurants for a month to curb rising Covid-19 cases, it has put Europe under new pressure.
“Malaysia is not exempted from the third wave of Covid-19 as Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya as well as Sabah have been under conditional and enhanced movement control orders,” she said.
The analyst said that while health authorities were positive the number of cases could be contained in a month’s time, the outlook for this year had continued to be on a downward momentum.
“This has led to lacklustre equity demand from foreign and retail investors as uncertainty continues to loom and funds shift to safe-haven assets,” she said.
Besides that, Budget 2021 to be unveiled on November 6 as well as the US presidential election on November 3 will continue to influence market trends.
Yesterday, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Aziz expressed confidence that the budget would not be politicised. This followed the decree by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for all politicking to stop to ensure the country’s economic recovery and stability.
On the heavyweights, Hartalega fell 26 sen to RM18.028, IHH shed five sen to RM5.10, and MISC dropped four sen to RM6.75.
As for the top losers, consumer counters led the decline with Nestle sliding RM1.10 to RM140.60 and Dutch Lady easing 68 sen to RM34.72.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index erased 47.44 points to 10,820.63, the FBMT 100 Index was 44.23 points lower at 10,631.88 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 57.14 points to 12,978.35.
The FBM 70, meanwhile, slipped 88.90 points to 14,244.10 and the FBM ACE was 214.79 points weaker at 9,820.54.
The Financial Services Index inched down 52.11 points to 12,260.81, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.90 point lower at 143.84, and the Plantation Index retreated 19.01 points to 6,922.56.
The market will be closed tomorrow in conjunction with Maulidul Rasul and will resume trading on Friday.
The Main Market volume rose to 2.47 billion worth RM2.75 billion from 2.29 billion shares worth RM3.20 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover widened to 746.48 million shares worth RM188.71 million from yesterday’s 659.15 million worth RM191.70 million.
Volume on the ACE Market slipped to 1.44 billion shares worth RM496.64 million from 1.75 billion shares worth RM703.70 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 426.07 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (752.71 million), construction (195.32 million), technology (298.0 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (35.05 million), property (258.43 million), plantations (48.08 million), REITs (7.51 million), closed/fund (1,000), energy (127.23 million), healthcare (99.83 million), telecommunications and media (76.03 million), transportation and logistics (92.83 million), and utilities (57.57 million). — Bernama
