Bursa Malaysia Ends Lower On Caution Ahead Of Us Jobs Report

By Nurul Jannah Kamaruddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- Shares on Bursa Malaysia retreated at the close on Friday, mirroring the cautious mood in global markets ahead of key US jobs data later tonight.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 11.70 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 1,653.12 from Thursday’s close of 1,664.82.

The benchmark index began 4.65 points higher at 1,669.47 and moved between 1,671.83 and 1,648.42 throughout the session. Across the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers, 662 to 316, with 474 counters unchanged, 1,003 untraded and 17 suspended.

Turnover slumped to 2.35 billion units valued at RM3.06 billion compared with Thursday's  3.28 billion units valued at RM3.41 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said after holding its key interest rate at a 20-year high to curb inflation, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) has finally signalled that rate cuts may happen soon.

He said the latest July job openings and labour turnover report in the US pointed to a softening in hiring, further cementing the need for interest rate cuts to safeguard the job market and prevent a recession in the United States. On top of that, the Fed's Beige Book also revealed that economic activity has been flat or weakening across most regions recently.

Therefore, he said investors are closely monitoring the release of the non-farm payrolls report tonight, which could be instrumental in shaping expectations for interest rate cuts at the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Sept 17-18.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan noted that despite the downtrend on the local bourse, health service and industrial stocks gained today.

He said this indicated a shift in investor focus toward fundamentally strong companies with high dividend yields and defensive sectors, particularly in light of oversold conditions in the market. “While we remain confident in the solid fundamentals of the local market, external factors will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping its direction,” he added.

Among heavyweight stocks, YTL Corp dived 21 sen, or 7.8 per cent, to RM2.49, MISC fell 36 sen to RM7.92 and YTL Power tumbled 17 sen to RM3.52. CelcomDigi eased six sen to RM3.66 and Petronas Dagangan shrank 66 sen to RM19.62.

Among active counters, Steel Hawk climbed 4.5 sen to 39 sen, Cape EMS rose half-a-sen to 34.5 sen, MYEG was flat at 91.5 sen while Tanco and Dataprep were one sen higher at RM1.09 and 17.5 sen, respectively.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shed 96.61 points to 12,276.06, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 96.94 points to 12,077.25, and the FBMT 100 Index slid 95.74 points to 11,985.21.  The FBM 70 Index dipped 177.48 points to 17,094.45, while the FBM ACE Index recovered 3.35 points to 5,084.45.

By sector, the Financial Services Index trimmed 45.49 points to 19,602.47, the Industrial Products and Services Index slid 2.07 points to 175.30, the Energy Index weakened by 12.73 points to 875.19 while the Plantation Index was 18.31 points higher at 7,243.40.

The Main Market volume dwindled to 1.60 billion units worth RM2.88 billion from 1.72 billion units worth RM3.08 billion on Thursday.

Warrant turnover fell sharply to 345.70 million units valued at RM29.40 million from 997.61 million units valued at RM114.19 million previously.

The ACE Market volume narrowed to 408.21 million shares worth RM143.08 million from 568.84 million shares worth RM214.14 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 168.43 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (311.28 million), construction (198.49 million), technology (239.80 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (126.15 million), property (202.31 million), plantation (15.10 million), REITs (10.94 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (77.45 million), healthcare (40.88 million), telecommunications and media (26.61 million), transportation and logistics (39.07 million), utilities (140.24 million), and business trusts (35,100).

-- BERNAMA