KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 ― Bursa Malaysia’s barometer index managed to recoup earlier losses to close marginally lower, spurred by last-minute recovery in the healthcare and plantation sectors as well as continued support in the construction sector.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 1.80 points to 1,626.19 from yesterday's close of 1,627.99.
The index opened 3.05 points higher at 1,631.04, its intraday high, and dipped to its lowest level of 1,615.16 in the afternoon session.
On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 787 to 347, while 417 counters were unchanged, 696 untraded and 55 others suspended.
Total volume was slightly lower at 9.04 billion shares worth RM5.80 billion versus 9.15 billion shares worth RM4.9 billion on Thursday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the domestic market was also mirroring most Asian peers as the first high-level talks between the United States (US) and China since President Joe Biden took office did not pan out very well with each side sharply criticising the other over human rights, trade and international alliances.
"Malaysia too has its fair share of geopolitical tensions as North Korea has cut off diplomatic relations with the country, accusing it of a ‘super-large hostile act’ after its top court ruled a North Korean man can be extradited to the US to face money-laundering charges," he told Bernama.
It was also reported the North Korean embassy was making plans to close its operations in Malaysia.
Among the sectors, the Bursa Malaysia Energy Index lost the most -- by 3.0 per cent -- on Friday amid sluggish oil prices which remained below US$65 per barrel. Oil prices have been on the downtrend for six days over demand worries.
Overseas, lead from overnight Wall Street performance was bleak with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding 0.5 per cent amid lingering concerns over inflationary pressure coupled with tumbling crude oil prices.
At home, Top Glove and IHH, having been mostly in the red, gained strength during the last leg of trading to lead gainers among the heavyweights.
The glove maker rose 15 sen to RM5.41 while the healthcare provider was 13 sen stronger at RM5.48.
Maxis remained higher for most of today’s trading, advancing 12 sen at RM4.75, and Sime Darby expanded 13 sen to RM2.52.
KLK added 48 sen to RM23.48 while TNB lost 28 sen to RM10.56 and Press Metal dropped 34 sen to RM9.82.
As for the active counters, Macpie surged 26 sen to 55.5 sen, Macpie-WB rose two sen to 12 sen, Widad slipped seven sen to 55.5 sen, and Borneo Oil declined half-a-sen to four sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index weakened 27.90 points to 11,923.21, the FBMT 100 reduced 24.02 points to 11,601.58, and the FBM Emas Shariah decreased 8.25 points to 13,229.89.
The FBM 70 reduced 75.88 points to 15,689.34 and the FBM ACE declined 2.49 points to 10,634.86.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 58.27 points to 15,509.65, the Plantation Index improved 15.83 points to 7,175.62 and the Industrial Products and Services Index lost 0.84 of-a-point to 193.13.
Main Market volume fell to 5.25 billion shares worth RM4.78 billion versus 6.06 billion shares worth RM4.07 billion on Thursday.
Warrants turnover dropped to 305.82 million units worth RM53.32 million from 392.54 million units worth RM72.3 million yesterday.
Volume on the ACE Market, however, increased to 3.48 billion shares worth RM958.77 million from 2.70 billion shares worth RM746.50 million previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 912.97 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.42 billion), construction (253.86 million), technology (795.31 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (132.03 million), property (524.34 million), plantations (66.10 million), REITs (30 million), closed/fund (32,000), energy (726.91 million), healthcare (98.43 million), telecommunications and media (106.71 million), transportation and logistics (105.99 million), and utilities (75.61 million). ― Bernama
