Bursa Malaysia Ends Week Slightly Weaker Amid Global Equity Volatility

By Abdul Hamid A Rahman

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the last trading day of the week on a slightly weaker note as market participants largely remained on the sidelines and staying cautious over the high volatility in global equities.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 2.30 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 1,612.88 from Thursday's close of 1,615.18.

The FBM KLCI opened 1.19 points lower at 1,613.99 and moved in a narrow range between 1,610.65 and 1,616.83 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 569 to 455, with 556 counters unchanged, 943 untraded, and 52 others suspended.

Turnover sank to 3.83 billion units worth RM2.70 billion from Thursday's 4.55 billion units worth RM3.11 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI moved within a tight range today and investors were reluctant to take positions due to the high volatility in global equities.

"Key regional indices also showed a similar pattern for the same reason, although bargain hunting was observed in certain bourses.

"Major technology stocks continued to fall, albeit at a slower pace, after a few underwhelming earnings reports from the sector," he told Bernama.

Additionally, Thong said investors remain on the edge due to unforeseen events in the US presidential election campaign and the timing of an interest rate cut by the United States central bank.

He added that despite the current short-term downward pressure on Malaysian equities, the strong fundamentals of the economy, coupled with continuous foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, improving economic conditions, and appealing valuations, are likely to attract bargain hunters soon.

Among the heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional added 2.0 sen to RM14.02. Maybank, Public Bank, and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM10.14, RM4.21 and RM6.26 respectively, while CIMB Group fell 2.0 sen to RM7.17.

Among the actives, ACE Market debutant Kucingko surged 27.0 sen to 57.0 sen and Hubline gained half-a-sen to 13.5 sen. Cape EMS declined 17.0 sen to 71.0 sen while OCR Group shed half-a-sen to 9.5 sen and Ekovest remained flat at 46.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased by 2.05 points to 12,463.73, the FBMT 100 Index eased 2.08 points to 12,050.56, the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 1.45 points to 12,741.15 and the FBM 70 Index gained 51.80 points to 18,530.15.

Meanwhile, the FBM ACE Index decreased 16.77 points to 5,794.09.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index eased 11.30 points to 17,971.92, and the Plantation Index decreased 6.77 points to 7,144.19. The Energy Index increased 7.84 points to 966.13 and the Industrial Products and Services Index went up 0.06 of-a-point to 191.85.

The Main Market volume dipped to 2.02 billion units valued at RM2.27 billion from 2.27 billion units valued at RM2.70 billion on Thursday.

Warrants turnover dropped to 1.0 billion units worth RM107.31 million from 1.35 billion units worth RM151.63 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume eased to 803.68 million shares valued at RM324.97 million from 914.78 million shares valued at RM259.84 million previously.  

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 367.92 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (455.65 million), construction (292.96 million), technology (206.13 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (76.41 million), property (162.86 million), plantation (21.20 million), REITs (23.94 million), closed/fund (16,300), energy (133.03 million), healthcare (38.77 million), telecommunications and media (41.81 million), transportation and logistics (148.02 million), utilities (50.53 million) and business trusts (1.07 million).

-- BERNAMA