KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 ― Bursa Malaysia turned mixed at mid-morning, echoing the mixed sentiment in the regional markets as renewed buying support in selected blue-chip stocks countered some of its earlier losses, dealers said.
At 11.04am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 4.04 points to 1,543.61 from yesterday’s close of 1,547.65.
It had opened 1.22 points lower at 1,546.43.
However, market breadth turned slightly positive with gainers edging past losers 406 versus 403, while 382 counters were unchanged, 1,116 untraded and 68 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.66 billion units worth RM973.75 million.
ActivTrades trades Anderson Alves said Asian equities were mixed on Thursday, with month and quarter-end flows causing some volatility in the market.
“In China, the official manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) unexpectedly shrank in September. The figures showed a reading of 49.6 versus expectations of 50,” he said in a research note today.
According to Alves, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said the contraction was driven by a slowdown in energy-intensive sectors, which was not a surprise given the well-documented and previously outlined headwinds for energy consumption due to limitations imposed by policymakers.
He said a bump in the quarterly economic recovery for China and its peers could prompt a revision to 2021 and 2022 economic projections and portfolio allocations.
“Month and quarter-end trade is expected to continue to dominate trade in the session ahead. Also on the radar is central bank speaking events, with United States Federal Reserve (US Fed) chair Jerome Powell set to deliver a speech.
“Traders will be looking for more tapering clues as US Fed policymakers are expected to make further remarks after last week's hawkish Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) event,” he added.
Back home, heavyweights Maybank slipped 1.0 sen to RM8.09, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare went down 2.0 sen each to RM4.08 and RM6.68, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals and TNB were flat at RM8.72 and RM9.75, respectively.
Of the actives, Serba Dinamik slipped 1.0 sen to 32.5 sen and Destini added 1.0 sen to 30.5 sen, while Widad Group and Sapura Energy were flat at 38.5 sen and 12 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index depreciated 2.36 points to 11,342.66, the FBMT 100 Index was 5.30 points weaker at 11,034.53, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 4.64 points to 12,398.99.
The FBM 70 jumped 84.85 points to 15,010.71, while the FBM ACE gained 18.07 points to 7,183.14.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index improved 7.54 points to 6,355.86, the Industrial Products and Services Index went up 0.09 of-a-point to 205.16, while the Financial Services Index slid 36.40 points to 15,223.47. ― Bernama
