Bursa Malaysia Ends Slightly Higher Despite Weak Market Breadth

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysian equities ended the day mostly lower following a heavy sell-off on Wall Street overnight particularly in technology stocks, said an analyst.

However at 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 0.03 per cent or 0.51 of-a-point to 1,600.09 from Wednesday’s close of 1,599.58. 

The index opened 4.40 points lower at 1,595.18 and moved between 1,590.83 and 1,600.73 throughout the trading session. 

The broader market remained negative as decliners outpaced gainers 693 to 369, while 540 counters were unchanged, 870 untraded and 49 suspended.

Turnover widened to 3.20 billion units worth RM3.03 billion versus 2.55 billion units valued at RM2.29 billion on Wednesday. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the US Federal Reserve (Fed) signalled that it could scale back the pace of interest rate cuts in 2025 relative to earlier expectations.

He said the global business environment faces heightened uncertainty, influenced by economic developments abroad and volatile commodity prices.

Nonetheless, China and Hong Kong pared their losses due to optimism over Beijing’s plans for increased fiscal spending in 2025.

On the local front, Thong said that at current valuations, the benchmark index is trading at below 15 times price-to-earnings (PER), significantly below its 10-year average of around 18 times.

“We believe this presents an opportunity to accumulate blue-chip stocks or those with strong fundamentals.

“Additionally, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to stage a rebound, likely trending within the range of 1,595 to 1,605 towards the weekend,” Thong told Bernama. 

Among heavyweight counters, YTL Corporation gained 41 sen to RM2.55, YTL Power International increased 42 sen to RM4.08, CIMB added 2.0 sen to RM8.04, Petronas Gas rose 10 sen to RM17.50, CelcomDigi increased 1.0 sen to RM3.61 and Telekom gained 2.0 sen to RM6.63. 

YTL Corporation and YTL Power International were also among the most active stocks.

Other active stocks include ACE Market debutant Winstar Capital which rose 16 sen to 51 sen, Top Glove and Supermax edged up 2.0 sen to RM1.40 and RM1.24 respectively, while MYEG gave up half-a-sen to 94 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index narrowed 58.73 points to 12,263.76, the FBM Emas Index slid 3.81 points to 12,276.98, and the FBMT 100 Index trimmed 0.29 of a point to 11,965.13.

The FBM 70 Index fell 15.55 points to 18,434.08, but the FBM ACE Index gained 9.96 points to 5,256.40 on the upside.

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index shaved 1.59 points to 170.90, the Energy Index dropped 4.25 points to 811.06, the Plantation Index erased 46.65 points to 7,586.11 and the Financial Services Index dipped 55.65 points to 18,840.54.

The Main Market volume increased to 1.70 billion units valued at RM2.77 billion against Wednesday's 1.36 billion units worth RM2.06 billion.

Warrants turnover expanded to 1.06 billion units worth RM103.11 million from 672.44 million units valued at RM66.70 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume edged down to 441.94 million units valued at RM161.02 million compared with 517.27 million units worth RM155.22 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 187.76 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (300.73 million), construction (86.41 million), technology (267.74 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (67.06 million), property (220.86 million), plantation (38.52 million), REITs (16.28 million), closed/fund (50,300), energy (90.27 million), healthcare (174.91 million), telecommunications and media (25.51 million), transportation and logistics (34.09 million), utilities (188.20 million) and business trusts (324,600).

Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia Bhd and its subsidiaries will be closed on Dec 25 in conjunction with Christmas Day and Jan 1, 2025 for New Year’s Day.

The local bourse and its subsidiaries will resume operations on Dec 26 and Jan 2, 2025 respectively, the exchange said in a statement. 

-- BERNAMA