KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 ― Bursa Malaysia turned lower at mid-morning amid mixed regional market sentiment, as investors were concerned over the outlook for central bank stimulus and the resilience of the economic recovery with the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19.
At 11am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 7.99 points to 1,593.39 from Monday’s close of 1,601.38.
The market bellwether opened 2.05 points better at 1,603.43.
Market breadth remained negative, with decliners leading gainers 526 to 366, while 369 counters were unchanged, 957 untraded and six others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.97 billion shares worth RM1.16 billion.
ActivTrades trader Anderson Alves said that Asian stocks traded mixed on Wednesday after a handover from Wall Street that was mired in month-end trade, where all major indices posted their seventh consecutive monthly gain for August.
“On the macro front, there was another blow for Asia-Pacific economies and global emerging markets as China's August Caixin manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 49.2 versus expectations of 50.2.
“The mounting downward pressure on economic growth could create another wave of cautious positioning on risk assets, equities, forex and sovereign and high-yield bonds in the region. Markets are now positioning for US employment data and PMIs this week,” he said in a note.
Heavyweights Maybank and IHH Healthcare slipped 6.0 sen each to RM8.34 and RM6.34, respectively, Public Bank fell 8.0 sen to RM4.10, and Tenaga Nasional contracted 2.0 sen to RM10.44; but Petronas Chemicals rose 4.0 sen to RM8.34.
Among the actives, Borneo Oil earned half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, Bintai Kinden added 5.5 sen to 53.5 sen, Kanger International improved 1.0 sen to 5.5 sen while Avillion went down 1.5 sen to 13 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 39.50 points to 11,588.37, the FBMT 100 Index was 41.90 points lower at 11,301.01, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 31.68 points to 12,718.78.
The FBM 70 increased 2.22 points to 15,025.68 while the FBM ACE shed 47.58 points to 7,197.32.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index gained 41.27 points to 6,792.52, the Financial Services Index dipped 61.05 points to 15,496.22 and the Industrial Products and Services Index added 1.08 points to 199.42. ― Bernama
