Bursa Malaysia Snaps 2-day Rally To End Marginally Lower

By Kisho Kumari Sucedaram

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia snapped two consecutive days of gains to end marginally lower today as investors grapple with policy uncertainties over the interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Bank of Japan (BoJ), a dealer said.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the growing concern was whether the BoJ would indefinitely pause interest rates and if the US Fed would opt for a 25- or 50-basis point cut. 

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.49 points or 0.09 per cent to 1,590.38 from Wednesday’s close of 1,591.87.

The index opened 5.91 points lower at 1,585.96 and moved between 1,579.69 and 1,593.24 throughout the trading session today. 

On the broader market, decliners surpassed gainers 651 to 445, with 467 counters unchanged, 880 untraded, and nine others suspended.

Turnover decreased to 4.31 billion units worth RM3.09 billion from Wednesday’s 5.12 billion units worth RM4.02 billion.

Innes anticipates that market volatility will persist up to the next Fed meeting in September.

"So, the local market is being influenced by external factors but fared better than most indices," he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, Apex Securities Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong noted that profit-taking emerged in selected banking and utilities heavyweights with investors locking gains from the recent recovery.

"Looking ahead, we expect choppiness to persist with the key index likely to hover below the 1,600 psychological level," he said.

He also pointed out that investors will be keeping a close watch on US weekly jobless claims data later tonight alongside Malaysia's industrial production and unemployment data slated for release at noon tomorrow.

"Technically, the FBM KLCI has formed a hammer candle after recouping most of its intraday losses. Near-term resistance is located at 1,600 points, while support is pegged at 1,530 points," he added.

Among Bursa Malaysia heavyweights, Maybank was unchanged at RM10.14, Public Bank lost two sen to RM4.22, IHH Healthcare shed three sen to RM6.19, while Tenaga Nasional added six sen to RM14.0 and Petronas Chemicals rose five sen to RM5.47. 

 Of the actives, Cape EMS firmed up four sen to 47.5 sen, Techna-X rose 3.5 sen to 13.5 sen, Saudee put on half-a-sen to 2.5 sen, Hubline eased half-a-sen to nine sen, and Ekovest slid two sen to 39 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 31.04 points to 12,070.66, the FBMT 100 Index shed 28.82 points to 11,721.98, the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 24.97 points at 12,189.74, the FBM ACE Index declined 18.08 points to 5,199.39, and the FBM 70 Index dipped 108.84 points to 17,439.53.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index lost 41.20 points to 18,019.61, the Plantation Index fell 11.87 points to 7,037.64, the Utilities Index dropped 11.71 points to 1,746.43, the Energy Index eased 1.67 points to 909.92, while the Industrial Products and Services Index perked up 0.09 of-a-point to 178.03.

The Main Market volume slipped to 2.42 billion units valued at RM2.71 billion from 3.44 billion units valued at RM3.66 billion on Wednesday.

Warrants turnover increased to 1.41 billion units worth RM207.52 million from 958.36 million units worth RM124.65 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume tumbled to 472.19 million shares valued at RM172.03 million from 714.17 million shares valued at RM226.02 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 292.50 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (728.79 million), construction (257.40 million), technology (211.69 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (88.46 million), property (260.16 million), plantation (16.14 million), REITs (22.07 million), closed/fund (37,600), energy (194.84 million), healthcare (58.30 million), telecommunications and media (52.52 million), transportation and logistics (168.35 million), utilities (75.72 million), and business trusts (221,800).

-- BERNAMA