Bursa Malaysia ends morning session in the red

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 ― Bursa Malaysia finished the morning session in the red, tracking the persistent volatility in global equity markets, but year-end window dressing activities in the local market are expected to continue, according to a dealer.

At 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) erased 9.20 points to 1,534.41 from yesterday's closing of 1,543.61.

The index opened 0.62 of-a-point weaker at 1,542.99, oscillating between 1,531.81 and 1,542.99 during the session.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 429 to 314, while 395 counters were unchanged, 1,152 untraded and 31 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 1.36 billion units worth RM643.65 million.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd said some window dressing may continue and expect the index to hover within the 1,540-1,550 range today.

“Meanwhile, confirmation of a RM1,000 cap on stamp duty is certainly good news for the local bourse and we expect this should boost overall trading activities,” it added in a note.

Globally, Rakuten said major indices on Wall Street all closed lower despite a better-than-expected job data as trading remained thin.

Regionally, at 12.42 pm, Singapore’s Strait Times Index was up 0.32 per cent to 3,136.29, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.66 per cent to 23,495.41, but Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.40 per cent to 28,791.71 and South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.52 per cent to 2,977.65.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased five sen to RM8.25, Public Bank was down one sen to RM4.14, Petronas Chemicals was six sen easier rat RM8.73 and IHH erased eight sen at RM6.70.

Of the actives, XOX and AT accumulated half-a-sen each at 3.5 sen, SMTrack added 1.5 sen at 19 sen, Airasia warrant was 19 sen higher at 19.5 sen, while Lambo, AHB and Widad all gained one sen each at 7.5 sen, 13.5 sen and 37 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 84.65 points to 11,995.46, the FBM Emas Index was 59.76 points easier at 11,130.29, the FBMT 100 Index lost 60.07 points to 10,830.22 and the FBM 70 trimmed 57.73 points to 14,179.21.

In contrast, the FBM ACE gained 54.02 points to 6,447.68.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index slipped 64.23 points to 6,524.25, the Financial Services Index went down 25.98 points to 15,486.55, and the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 1.43 point to 200.17. ― Bernama