KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — Bursa Malaysia retreated from yesterday’s gains to end lower today due to profit-taking activities amid mixed regional market performance, said a dealer.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 8.19 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 1,451.24 from 1,459.43 at yesterday’s close after opening 0.53 of a point weaker at 1,458.90.

The key index fluctuated between 1,449.02 and 1,462.56 throughout the day.

The overall market breadth was negative with decliners trouncing advancers 599 to 343, while 417 counters were unchanged, 906 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 3.83 billion units worth RM1.75 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the key regional indices were mixed but the Japanese market saw strong gains in line with market optimism sparked by a Wall Street rally overnight, although concerns about inflation and regional growth continued to linger.

He added that China and Hong Kong ended lower on profit-taking in property stocks, however, the technology sector registered strong gains.

Meanwhile, Thong expected the trend in local equities to remain positive as a result of the improving regional sentiment and strong support from foreign funds.

“Despite today’s profit-taking activities, we consider it a healthy sign as it enables the market to absorb the recent uptrend.

“Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to move higher within the 1,450-1,470 range for the rest of the week. On a technical point of view, we spot the immediate resistance at 1,460 and support is at 1,440,” he told Bernama.

Heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB fell three sen each to RM8.99 and RM5.52, respectively, Petronas Chemicals slid 10 sen to RM6.85, while Public Bank and Tenaga Nasional both slipped five sen to RM4.12 and RM9.55, respectively.

Of the actives, Sapura Energy and AT Systematization were half-a-sen higher at 4.0 sen and 1.5 sen, respectively, Hong Seng shed one sen to 5.5 sen, and both KNM and Pesona Metro were flat at 9.5 sen and 17.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 44.71 points to 10,658.57, the FBMT 100 Index was 40.43 points weaker at 10,352.45, the FBM Emas Shariah Index edged down 29.93 points to 10,922.79, the FBM ACE Index slid 22.72 points to 5,307.41, while the FBM 70 Index increased 21.62 points to 13,971.21.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 81.59 points to 16,192.46, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.14 points to 167.57, the Plantation Index trimmed 35.91 points to 7,144.52, and the Energy Index added 2.96 points to 833.11.

The Main Market volume expanded to 2.65 billion units valued at RM1.47 billion from 2.32 billion units valued at RM2.24 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover dwindled to 330.98 million units worth RM55.70 million versus 363.95 million units worth RM58.30 million previously.

The ACE Market volume surged to 846.57 million shares valued at RM231.54 million compared to 607.69 million shares valued at RM195.49 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 314.62 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (356.75 million); construction (238.16 million); technology (293.44 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (60.24 million); property (299.78 million); plantation (26.43 million); REITs (16.40 million), closed/fund (21,300); energy (897.42 million); healthcare (61.64 million); telecommunications and media (30.44 million); transportation and logistics (27.75 million); and utilities (30.98 million). — Bernama