KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) extended its decline for a second consecutive day, dragged down by selling mainly in banking stocks, in tandem with the weak regional performance.
At 5 pm, the market bellwether eased by 6.95 points or 0.48 per cent to 1,425.68 from Tuesday’s close of 1,432.63.
The key index opened 0.48 of-a-point firmer at 1,433.11 and moved between 1,424.53 and 1,433.68 throughout the session.
The market breadth was negative with decliners surpassing gainers 438 to 364, while 435 counters were unchanged, 1,005 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Turnover decreased to 2.78 billion units valued at RM1.65 billion from 3.45 billion units valued at RM2.12 billion on Tuesday.
The financial services index dipped 0.74 per cent or 117.62 points to 15,597.95.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said regionally, the key indices ended mostly lower following a negative cue from Wall Street overnight as investors were cautiously awaiting the release of the US inflation data on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, news reports stated that White House officials and Republican leaders are engaged in contentious negotiations over the approval of a debt ceiling raise.
The White House is pushing for approval without compromising on spending initiatives, while the Republican House of Representatives Speaker has reportedly said that he will not approve the debt ceiling raise unless the President’s spending initiatives are cut to safeguard against the escalating budget deficit.
Back home, Thong believed that the reasonable valuations of the FBM KLCI may attract bargain hunters, though the sentiment on the local market is expected to remain cautious.
Furthermore, the key index remained in an oversold position.
“Hence, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend higher within the 1,435-1,440 range for the remaining week, with immediate resistance at 1,440 and support at 1,410,” he told Bernama.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank slipped five sen to RM8.70, Public Bank lost three sen to RM3.99, CIMB was nine sen lower at RM5.02, and Tenaga Nasional fell 17 sen to RM9.03.
Petronas Chemicals added 11 sen to RM7.31.
As for the actives, Bahvest went down two sen to 11.5 sen, Jade Marvel decreased half-a-sen to 27 sen, while KNM was flat at 6.0 sen.
Top Glove gained one sen to RM1.10 and Velesto rose half-a-sen to 23.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 34.24 points to 10,444.99, the FBMT 100 Index erased 35.04 points to 10,142.34, the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 4.17 points to 10,797.19, and the FBM ACE Index slipped 12.88 points to 5,041.72, while the FBM 70 index went up 12.86 points to 13,576.32.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.10 of-a-point to 169.55, the Plantation Index rose 28.32 points to 6,838.52 and the Energy Index perked up 0.34 of-a-point to 833.31.
The Main Market volume dwindled to 1.87 billion units valued at RM1.44 billion from 2.06 billion units valued at RM1.62 billion on Tuesday.
Warrants turnover shrank to 278.69 million units worth RM40.22 million against 400.89 million units worth RM64.26 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume tumbled to 638.24 million shares valued at RM166.15 million versus 987.90 million shares valued at RM436.72 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 362.17 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (454.33 million); construction (78.87 million); technology (160.95 million); SPAC (nil), financial services (75.44 million); property (224.39 million); plantation (24.32 million); REITs (7.22 million), closed/fund (12,000); energy (174.67 million); healthcare (214.14 million); telecommunications and media (44.52 million); transportation and logistics (20.52 million); and utilities (25.29 million). — Bernama
