Bursa Malaysia slips on profit-taking, tracking regional peers, Wall Street

By Abdul Hamid A Rahman

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended lower today as profit-taking persisted following the recent strong rally, with key regional indices also trending downwards, influenced by negative cues from Wall Street overnight.

At the close, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (KLCI) slid 7.45 points or 0.45 per cent to 1,635.32 from yesterday’s close of 1,642.77. 

The benchmark index opened 1.05 points lower at 1,641.72 and moved between 1,633.64 to 1,646.38 throughout the trading session.

On the broader market, losers beat gainers 573 to 508, with 502 counters unchanged, 897 untraded, and seven others suspended.

Turnover dwindled to 3.27 billion units valued at RM2.90 billion from 4.19 billion units worth RM4.55 billion on Tuesday.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the decline in the FBM KLCI was driven by expectations of continued US dollar weakness and potential downward revisions to United States (US) employment data, prompting some investors to secure profits.

“Despite this, the recent trends suggest a shift in foreign investor preferences towards emerging markets, including Malaysia. This shift can be attributed to the widening interest rate differential between emerging markets and the US Federal Reserve’s Funds Rate,” he told Bernama.

Mohd Sedek said that stable interest rates in emerging markets have strengthened local currencies, making these markets more attractive to foreign investors.

“Furthermore, the stronger currencies have made large-cap sectors with foreign-denominated loans more appealing, as the cost of servicing these loans has decreased,” he added.

Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group increased 4.0 sen to RM7.89, Maybank fell  8.0 sen to RM10.52, Public Bank dropped 4.0 sen to RM4.63, and Tenaga Nasional decreased 10.0 sen to RM13.90, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM6.32.

Among the actives, MY E.G. Services rose 1.5 sen to 92 sen, Cape EMS increased 2.5 sen to 42.5 sen, while Top Glove and Wentel Engineering decreased half-a-sen each to 99.5 sen and 33.0 sen, respectively, and YTL Power declined 11.0 sen to RM3.75.

On the index board, the FBM 70 Index gained 83.59 points to 17,996.23, the FBM ACE Index increased 6.69 points to 5,336.28, while the FBM Emas Index fell 20.98 points to 12,408.79, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 23.06 points to 12,065.55, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 10.31 points to 12,348.87.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked up 0.64 of-a-point to 182.24 and the Energy Index added 1.17 points to 935.72.

The Financial Services Index declined 19.19 points to 19,177.96 and the Plantation Index dipped 36.44 points to 7,109.71.

The Main Market volume declined to 1.72 billion units worth RM2.63 billion from 2.38 billion units valued at RM4.24 billion on Tuesday.

Warrants turnover slid to 1.13 billion units valued at RM133.44 million from 1.37 billion units worth RM163.68 million previously.

The ACE Market volume dipped to 409.12 million shares worth RM133.80 million from 437.47 million shares valued at RM139.41 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 229.44 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (419.60 million), construction (139.15 million), technology (230.90 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (129.58 million), property (216.93 million), plantation (27.15 million), REITs (12.20 million), closed/fund (9500), energy (86.81 million), healthcare (82.22 million), telecommunications and media (35.05 million), transportation and logistics (50.43 million), utilities (66.36 million), and business trusts (165,000).

-- BERNAMA