KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 — Bursa Malaysia welcomed Christmas eve on a weak note, with the key index bucking the regional trend due to profit-taking ahead of the long weekend and amid cautious market sentiments.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 6.33 points to finish the day at 1,641.17 after moving between 1,636.98 and 1,649.71 throughout the session.

The overall market breadth skewed towards negative with losers outnumbering gainers 587 to 514, while 764 counters were unchanged, 283 untraded and 38 others suspended.

Total volume increased marginally to 6.73 billion units worth RM2.84 billion from 6.35 billion units worth RM3.42 billion on Wednesday.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim the FBM KLCI closed 0.4 per cent lower today as investors decided to reduce their exposure in the equity market ahead of the long weekend.

He said the biggest loser among the 30-FBM KLCI constituents was Top Glove, which lost 3.6 per cent, while gainers were led by Press Metal and IOI Corp, which gained by 1.1 per cent respectively.

On a sectoral basis, the Bursa Malaysia Energy Index emerged the largest daily loser, declining 0.5 per cent after gaining more than 3.0 per cent on the previous day.

The Bursa Malaysia Property Index, on the other hand, rose the most by 0.9 per cent on Thursday.

“We expect markets and the local bourse to remain range-bound at between 1,640 and 1,650 points until the year-end given the expected thin trading as investors take a breather from trading,” he told Bernama.

The local market will be closed tomorrow for Christmas and trading will resume on Dec 28, 2020.

Meanwhile, Inter-Pacific Asset Management Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said sentiment in the market turned cautious on the back of the United States President Donald Trump’s threat to derail the US$900 billion COVID-19 relief bill and Brexit trade deal.

These has offset the positive sentiment brought about by the clarity on vaccine deliveries next year, he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell five sen to RM8.44, Public Bank eased four sen to RM20.56, Petronas Chemicals fell eight sen to RM7.50, Top Glove trimmed seven sen to RM6.49, while Hartalega gave up 14 sen for RM12.58.

IHH Healthcare added one sen to RM5.66 while Tenaga, which announced a six-month electricity rebate for its users starting Jan 1, 2021, rose two sen to RM10.70.

As for the actives, AT Systematization bagged two sen to 18.5 sen, Iris gained 2.5 sen to 40.5 sen, M&G increased 14 sen to 21.5 sen, while both Techna-X and Fintec inched down half-a-sen each to 14.5 sen and nine sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 25.93 points lower at 11,810.92, the FBMT 100 Index erased 30.87 points to 11,569.93, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 24.31 points to 13,283.18.

However, the FBM 70 climbed 13.10 points to 15,112.54.

The Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.42 of-a-point to 175.89, the Plantation Index chalked up 49.79 points to 7,417.28 but the Financial Services Index fell 31.27 points to 15,260.37.

The Main Market volume decreased to 3.59 billion shares worth RM2.07 billion from 4.07 billion shares worth RM2.81 billion on Wednesday.

Warrants turnover narrowed to 437.99 million units worth RM62.72 million against yesterday’s 562.13 million units worth RM91.84 million.

Volume on the ACE Market, however, increased to 2.7 billion shares worth RM704.94 million from 1.72 billion shares worth RM509.38 million previously.

Consumer products and services accounted for 597.53 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.21 billion), construction (256.31 million), technology (142.08 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (44.06 million), property (302.5 million), plantations (143.53 million), REITs (6.57 million), closed/fund (37,600), energy (437.52 million), healthcare (33.7 million), telecommunications and media (20.19 million), transportation and logistics (349.21 million), and utilities (46.24 million). — Bernama