BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS WEEK ON SOFTER NOTE AMID MIXED REGIONAL SENTIMENT

By NurulJannah Kamaruddin

KUALA LUMPUR, June 14 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia settled the week on a softer note, reflecting the mixed sentiment in regional bourses as the rally sparked by signs of cooling US inflation waned.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid by 2.85 points or 0.18 per cent to 1,607.32 from 1,610.17 at Thursday’s close.

The FBM KLCI opened 0.83 of-a-point higher at 1,611 and moved between a low of 1,604.48 and a high of 1,611.90.

Decliners outpaced gainers 677 to 561, while 469 counters were unchanged, 702 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Turnover narrowed to 5.64 billion units worth RM3.92 billion from Thursday's 5.91 billion units worth RM4.35 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI is stuck in consolidation mode as investors remained cautious for the aforementioned reason.

He noted that the outlook for US interest rates is under consideration by investors after the Fed tempered its views on rate cuts, even as the inflation print was softer than anticipated.

"Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell deemed the report encouraging, yet emphasised that policymakers need more consistent data before lowering their main interest rate from its highest point in two decades,” Thong told Bernama.

He also said the 1,630 level had proven to be a hurdle after multiple failed attempts to sustain it due to strong resistance, adding that if the FBM KLCI can remain above the 1,600 mark for a longer duration, the mid-term outlook for the benchmark index will be positive.

Heavyweight Press Metal led the list of laggards, losing 18 sen to RM5.80, MISC dipped 12 sen to RM8.35 following its rally yesterday, and Petronas Gas lost 34 sen to RM17.66.

Meanwhile, YTL Power rose 12 sen to RM5.28 and YTL Corp climbed six sen to RM3.66.

Among the active counters, MyEG lost nine sen to RM1.05, JCY was flat at 89.5 sen, Divfex garnered four sen to 20 sen, SNS Network rose 2.5 sen to 87 sen, while Hubline and Euro Holdings gained half-a-sen to 6.5 sen and 10 sen respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 38.74 points to 12,386.45, the FBMT 100 Index fell 39.86 points to 11,947.78, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 82.22 points to 12,727.48.

The FBM 70 Index tumbled 135.75 points to 18,150.81 while the FBM ACE Index garnered 59.70 points to 5,902.48.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index advanced 19.09 points to 17,579.13, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.48 of-a-point to 200.39, the Energy Index shed 24.34 points to 987.90, and the Plantation Index slid 19.32 points to 7,008.50.

The Main Market volume dwindled to 3.18 billion units worth RM3.36 billion from 3.62 billion units worth RM3.76 billion on Thursday.

Warrants turnover advanced to 1.07 billion units valued at RM121.96 million compared with 1.04 billion units worth RM121.33 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume expanded to 1.37 billion shares worth RM440.72 million from 1.25 billion shares worth RM471.26 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 485.32 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (703.11 million), construction (327.52 million), technology (614.13 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (104.01 million), property (345.11 million), plantation (36.34 million), REITs (14.65 million), closed/fund (31,000), energy (159.77 million), healthcare (94.13 million), telecommunications and media (63.72 million), transportation and logistics (136.15 million), utilities (99.90 million), and business trusts (79,200).

-- BERNAMA