KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — Bursa Malaysia’s key index ended lower today in tandem with the regional markets amid elevated inflationary pressure and a resurgence of the pandemic, said an analyst.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 2.51 points or 0.16 per cent to 1,519.97, from Friday’s close of 1,522.48.
The index opened 0.19 of-a-point higher at 1,522.67 and moved between 1,518.73 and 1,533.80 throughout the trading session.
However in the broader market, gainers surpassed losers at 511 to 456, while 470 counters were unchanged, 805 untraded and 10 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 4.82 billion units valued at RM3.43 billion from Friday’s 4.48 billion units valued at RM2.93 billion.
Rakuten Trade head of equity sales Vincent Lau said market breadth was still positive despite a mild pullback in the key index as investors were taking some profit-taking.
“Not so much on Covid-19 cases because our vaccination rate is being ramped up. Covid-19 numbers are not dampening the sentiment now because our vaccination rate is among the highest,” he told Bernama.
Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 1.19 per cent to 3,114.76, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.84 per cent to 27,489.78 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.25 per cent to 27,652.75.
Meanwhile, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim attributed the weaker key index to be weighed down by the Energy index which was the biggest loser among sectoral indexes after ending 0.8 per cent lower for the day.
“This is amid prospects of limited gains in oil prices as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reached a deal last week, which allowed the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Plus (OPEC+) to finalise an agreement to raise production by 400,000 barrels per day starting in August on a monthly basis until they are once again operating at pre-pandemic capacity,” he told Bernama.
Looking at the Covid-19 infections, the number of daily infections on July 19 remained high at 10,972 cases, while the latest seven-day average of daily vaccination doses administered stood above 340,000 doses per day, he noted.
Among Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights, TNB and IHH Healthcare rose six sen each to RM9.76 and RM5.75 respectively, CIMB gained three sen to RM4.56, Axiata was flat at RM3.76, Maybank and Public Bank eased two sen each to RM8.03 and RM4.04, while Petronas Chemicals depreciated five sen to RM8.
As for most active counters, CTOS Digital surged 52 sen to RM1.62, Kanger International edged up half-a-sen to 7.5 sen, Ramssol appreciated 7.5 sen to 67 sen, Sersol soared 14.5 sen to 48 sen, Saudee fell four sen to 20 sen and Serba Dinamik trimmed 1.5 sen to 43.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 4.10 points to 11,112.47, the FBMT 100 Index was 8.56 points easier at 10,815.77 but the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 4.42 points to 12,189.33.
The FBM ACE leapt 18.64 points to 7,259.21 and the FBM 70 advanced 24.76 points to 14,519.29.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 23.95 points to 14,871.92, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.21 of-a-point to 188.39 while the Plantation Index expanded 42.13 points at 6,234.89.
Main Market volume widened to 2.82 billion shares valued at RM2.78 billion from 2.77 billion shares valued at RM2.29 billion last Friday.
Warrants turnover increased to 291.96 million units worth RM33.12 million against 217.91 million units worth RM27.69 million previously.
Volume on the ACE Market was reduced to 170 million shares valued at RM623.13 million from Friday’s 1.49 billion shares valued at RM619.48 million.
Consumer products and services accounted for 660.75 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (721.51 million), construction (109.12 million), technology (677.47 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (73.14 million), property (138.86 million), plantation (21.84 million), REITs (3.09 million), closed/fund (12,000), energy (221.65 million), healthcare (90.58 million), telecommunications and media (36.34 million), transportation and logistics (58.13 million), and utilities (11.39 million).
Bursa Malaysia Bhd and its subsidiaries will be closed tomorrow in conjunction with the Eid Al-Adha celebration and trading will resume on Wednesday July 21. — Bernama
