KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — Bursa Malaysia ended broadly lower today, with the key index falling by 0.82 per cent on bearish market sentiment led by banking stocks, ahead of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision after the conclusion of its first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) tomorrow.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 12.59 points to 1,530.33 from 1,542.92 at Monday’s close after opening 1.22 points easier at 1,541.70.
The key index fluctuated between 1,525.55 and 1,541.70 throughout the trading session.
Banking counters CIMB lost 18 sen to RM5.33, Maybank fell nine sen to RM8.32 and Public Bank eased four sen to RM4.18, which contributed a combined 6.53 points to the decline in the index.
The overall market breadth was negative with decliners trouncing advancers 780 to 258, while 346 counters were unchanged, 864 untraded, and 27 others suspended.
Total turnover increased to 3.57 billion units worth RM2.61 billion against Monday’s 2.59 billion units worth RM2.01 billion.
The market was closed yesterday for Thaipusam public holiday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI was lower today in line with continuous selling pressure across the region, particularly in banking and gaming stocks.
He noted that the key regional markets were also in negative territory as surging US treasury yields also contributed to the continuous global selloff.
Meanwhile, the Brent crude price continued its uptrend to close near US$89 (RM373) per barrel amid possible disruption on the supply side following the latest attack on the United Arab Emirates.
“We expect buying interest in local oil and gas counters to remain strong in the short to mid-term. Any further dips may attract some bargain-hunting activities.
“Hence, we reckon the FBM KLCI to move between the 1,520-1,540 range for the remainder of the week, with immediate support at 1,520 and resistance at 1,570,” Thong told Bernama.
At the time of writing, Brent crude rose 0.33 per cent to US$87.80 per barrel.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 2.80 per cent to 27,467.23, Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.04 per cent to 3,278.75, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.06 per cent to 24,127.85.
Back home, heavyweights Petronas Chemicals and TNB both rose three sen to RM8.98 and RM9.07, respectively, IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.56, Press Metal declined four sen to RM5.88, and Hong Leong Bank dipped 30 sen to RM19.50.
Of the actives, Dagang NeXchange advanced 4.5 sen to 91 sen, Sarawak Consolidated increased 6.5 sen to 27 sen, AHB Holdings edged up half-a-sen to 13.5 sen, EA Holdings and SMTrack eased 1.0 sen each to 1.5 sen and 22.5 sen respectively, while AirAsia decreased 2.5 sen to 59 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 127.68 points to 10,974.62, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 121.05 points to 10,685.68, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 108.93 points to 11,669.09, the FBM ACE dipped 151.61 points to 6,091.56, and the FBM 70 lost 297.84 points to 13,488.79.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 246.55 points to 15,844.61, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.89 points to 199.05, while the Plantation Index advanced 7.74 points to 6,670.92.
The Main Market volume went up to 2.35 billion shares worth RM2.37 billion from Monday’s 1.64 billion shares worth RM1.80 billion.
Warrants turnover improved to 260.14 million units worth RM25.76 million from 203.99 million units worth RM22.77 million previously.
The ACE Market volume increased to 953.68 million shares worth RM212.41 million from 730.73 million shares worth RM176.58 million on Monday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 524.83 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (594.94 million), construction (145.14 million), technology (516.56 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (89.70 million), property (144.03 million), plantation (13.09 million), REITs (9.96 million), closed/fund (5,000), energy (191.44 million), healthcare (52.56 million), telecommunications and media (17.12 million), transportation and logistics (30.30 million), and utilities (21.37 million). — Bernama
