BURSA MALAYSIA ENDS LOWER FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE DAY

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended lower for the fourth consecutive day today, primarily due to profit-taking activities in the construction, telecommunications, utilities and energy sectors, said an analyst. 

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.44 per cent or 7.10 points easier at 1,592.69 from Wednesday’s close of 1,599.79.

The benchmark index opened 3.52 points lower at 1,596.27, its intraday high, and hit a low of 1,590.37 in the early morning session. 

On the broader market, decliners trounced gainers 816 to 352, with 447 counters unchanged, 797 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Turnover fell to 5.03 billion units worth RM3.42 billion from Wednesday's 5.57 billion units valued at RM4.06 billion.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors, head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the slide in the local bourse was further compounded by the closure of the US stock markets due to the Juneteenth holiday. 

“The market is likely to continue trading sideways to lower until positive catalysts emerge to lift the local market from the current profit-taking trend.

“The overnight Wall Street trading may also influence tomorrow's trading as many technology stocks in the US have reached all-time highs,” he told Bernama. 

However, Mohd Sedek said further weakness in blue chip stocks may attract bargain hunters.

One potential catalyst is the development of 5G technology, he added.

“As tomorrow marks the deadline for five telecommunication companies to finalise the share subscription agreement for a combined 70 per cent stake in Digital Nasional Bhd, the progress of the 5G plan will become clearer, potentially benefitting the telecommunications sector,” he said. 

On the local bourse, heavyweights YTL Corporation and Axiata dipped 7.0 sen to RM3.51 and RM2.65 respectively, AmBank shed 1.0 sen to RM4.18, CIMB slid 5.0 sen to RM6.74, and Sime Darby was 7.0 sen lower at RM2.53. 

Of the most active counters, Ingenieur Gudang and Jaks Resources trimmed half-a-sen each to 6.5 sen and 18.5 sen respectively, VS Industry gained 5.0 sen to RM1.20, KTI rose 3.0 sen to 31.5 sen, and Cabnet surged 13.5 sen to 51.5 sen.  

Hong Leong Industries led the top losers list, falling 20 sen to RM11.10, Ajinomoto and AEON Credit shed 18 sen each to RM15.50 and RM7.55 respectively, Sunway Construction slid 16 sen to RM3.79, and Panasonic Manufacturing slipped 14 sen to RM20.12.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index erased 48.69 points to 12,243.35, the FBMT 100 Index gave up 45.82 points to 11,821.68 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 45.43 points to 12,589.44. 

The FBM 70 Index decreased 41.68 points to 17,889.40 and the FBM ACE Index tumbled 42.16 points to 5,754.04.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index sank 57.65 points to 17,419.40, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.02 of-a-point to 197.47, and the Energy Index trimmed 9.97 points to 973.41.

The Plantation Index however rose 4.18 points to 7,007.98.

The Main Market volume dwindled to 2.90 billion units valued at RM2.92 billion from 3.31 billion units worth RM3.52 billion on Wednesday.

Warrants turnover advanced to 1.21 billion units worth RM176.73 million compared with 1.19 billion units valued at RM162.56 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume declined to 992.85 million shares valued at RM320.64 million against 1.05 billion shares worth RM377.50 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 466.53 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (820.09 million), construction (332.08 million), technology (324.55 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (102.52 million), property (327.99 million), plantation (18.88 million), REITs (15.98 million), closed/fund (10,700), energy (182.20 million), healthcare (69.91 million), telecommunications and media (50.72 million), transportation and logistics (119.34 million), utilities (68.43 million), and business trusts (4.09 million).

-- BERNAMA