.JPG "An investor monitors the stock prices in the gallery of the RHB Investment Bank Bhd headquarters in Kuala Lumpur March 17, 2020. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Hari Anggara")
KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — Bursa Malaysia retreated from its recent gains to close on an easier note Monday dampened by weak market sentiment.
At 5pm, the benchmark index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 3.53 points to 1,583.92 from Friday’s close of 1,587.45.
The key index, which opened 0.03 of-a-point higher at 1,587.48 this morning, moved between 1,580.0 and 1,591.52 throughout the session.
Overall market breadth was negative as losers trounced gainers 843 to 297, while 397 counters were unchanged, 633 untraded and seven others suspended.
Total volume increased to 6.01 billion shares worth RM3.53 billion from 5.39 billion shares worth RM3.41 billion last Friday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the FBM KLCI closed 0.2 per cent lower as investors moved to the sidelines ahead of the release of the first quarter of 2021 gross domestic product (GDP) performance, which will be announced tomorrow.
He said the economy was expected to record a contraction of 1.5 per cent during the quarter, against 0.7 per cent in the same quarter last year.
“It’s pretty bad on a year-on-year basis. But it is better comparing to the fourth quarter of 2020 which was -3.4 per cent,” he told Bernama.
In addition, Adam said rubber glove counters such as Hartalega and Supermax led laggards among the FBM KLCI, losing 6.7 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively, amid higher vaccination rates in the country following the commencement of the voluntary vaccination programme using AstraZeneca vaccines last week.
On a sectoral basis, the Bursa Malaysia Technology index was the biggest loser, declining 2.5 per cent during the day as investors continued to take profit after the index rallied in tandem with the surge in COVID-19 infections.
On the other hand, the Bursa Malaysia Energy index was the biggest gainer, ending 2.2 per cent higher today, taking cue from the rise in other commodity prices such as crude palm oil which jumped more than 5.0 per cent last week.
Among the heavyweights, PChem shed five sen to RM8.25 while Maybank, Public Bank, Tenaga, and IHH Healthcare were all flat at RM8.24, RM4.10, RM9.90 and RM5.66 respectively.
Of the actives, Focus Dynamics slipped 1.5 sen to eight sen, KTG shed two sen to 20.5 sen, Sedania inched up half-a-sen to 31.5 sen and Tanco perked up two sen to 13 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 41.28 points lower at 11,616.34, the FBMT 100 Index declined 36.34 points to 11,278.04, the FBM Emas Shariah Index reduced 55.72 points to 13,022.11, the FBM ACE fell 188.69 points to 8,137.84, and the FBM 70 lost 92.21 points to 15,167.27.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dipped 14.08 points to 14,789.54, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 1.38 points to 199.16, but the Plantation Index gained 52.64 points to 7,150.13.
Main Market volume improved to 3.76 billion shares worth RM2.82 billion compared with 3.70 billion shares worth RM2.80 billion on Friday.
Warrants turnover increased to 349.71 million units valued at RM35.37 million from 304.65 million units valued at RM45.83 million previously.
Volume on the ACE Market expanded to 1.91 billion shares worth RM683.27 million from Friday’s 1.38 billion shares worth RM582.26 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 392.31 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.26 billion), construction (189.5 million), technology (471.05 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (38.26 million), property (344.96 million), plantation (188.43 million), REITs (4.78 million), closed/fund (3,000), energy (526.51 million), healthcare (123.39 million), telecommunications and media (64.14 million), transportation and logistics (143.57 million), and utilities (10.72 million). — Bernama
