Bursa Malaysia Ends Lower On Broad-based Weakness, Tracking Regional Peers

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Tuesday amid broad-based weakness in the local bourse, in line with regional markets.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) trimmed 13.37 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 1,614.06 from Monday’s close of 1,627.43. 

The benchmark index opened 0.43 of-a-point easier at 1,627.0 and fluctuated between 1,613.76 and 1,627.32 throughout the trading session.

Market breadth was negative, with decliners trouncing advancers 934 to 313, while 499 counters were unchanged, 1,021 untraded and 11 suspended.

Turnover rose to 4.33 billion units worth RM3.20 billion versus Monday’s 3.77 billion units worth RM2.47 billion.  

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said regional markets were trading defensively today, with Bursa Malaysia caught in the same slipstream.

He noted that a sharp hawkish repricing along the US rate curve overnight — which saw the odds of a December Fed rate cut fall to about 40 per cent — has tightened financial conditions and weighed on Asian risk appetite. 

“At the same time, the broader tape is being held hostage by two near-term catalysts: Nvidia’s earnings and the delayed US jobs report. With both landing this week, global funds are reluctant to add risk until those cards are on the table.

“That ‘wait-and-see' impulse is powerful in ASEAN markets, where foreign flows have been thin and highly data-dependent. Closer to home, the Japan–China flare-up has introduced a fresh layer of regional uncertainty,” Innes told Bernama.

For the rest of the week, Bursa Malaysia may continue to trade heavily, but more as a contagion-driven risk-off move, rather than a deep, domestically-driven one, he added.

“Until we get clarity from Nvidia and the US labour print, and unless the geopolitical noise de-escalates, the index is likely to remain range-bound with a mild downside bias. The market lacks a catalyst to break the gravitational pull of global uncertainty,” Innes said. 

Among heavyweights, YTL Corp gained one sen to RM2.44, TM bagged six sen to RM7.27, Maybank and IHH Healthcare were flat at RM9.92 and RM8.20, respectively, while Public Bank shed five sen to RM4.25, CIMB slid 16 sen to RM7.45, TNB went down 10 sen to RM13.18, and Press Metal eased two sen to RM6.44.

On the most active list, ACE Market debutant PMW International edged up half-a-sen to 34.5 sen, MMAG rose 1.5 sen to 7.5 sen. TWL and Gamuda were flat at 2.5 sen and RM5.24, respectively, while Genetec  decreased 8.5 sen to 32 sen, and V.S Industry shed 3.5 sen to 47 sen.   

Among the top gainers, Nestle increased by 30 sen to RM112.70, United Plantations firmed 24 sen to RM27.04, Arka surged 14 sen to 85 sen, and HI Mobility climbed 13 sen to RM2.63.

As for the top losers, Malaysian Pacific Industries dipped 90 sen to RM30.60, Petronas Dagangan slipped 60 sen to RM21.50, Dutch Lady gave up 44 sen to RM29.30, and Petronas Gas shaved 38 sen to RM18.14.

On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index sank 99.32 points to 11,741.32,  the FBM Emas Index dipped 103.13 points to 11,969.96, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shaved 105.89 points to 11,968.15.  

The FBM ACE Index tumbled 103.17 points to 4,912.10 and the FBM Mid 70 Index slumped 150.95 points to 16,785.67.  

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index added 0.48 of-a-point to 8,118.62, the Financial Services Index lost 157.53 points to 18,338.59, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 1.78 points to 165.51, while the Energy Index perked up 0.51 of-a-point to 761.51. 

The Main Market volume increased to 1.56 billion units valued at RM2.54 billion against Monday’s 1.27 billion units valued at RM1.96 billion. 

Warrants turnover improved to 2.27 billion units worth RM381.29 million from 2.02 billion units worth RM366.90 million yesterday. 

The ACE Market volume expanded to 506.73 million units valued at RM186.67 million from 478.72 million units valued at RM137.79 million. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 278.98 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (273.69 million), construction (100.29 million), technology (282.29 million), financial services (64.79 million), property (199.47 million), plantation (53.61 million), real estate investment trusts (32.70 million), closed-end fund (18,300), energy (81.62 million), healthcare (80.14 million), telecommunications and media (30.85 million), transportation and logistics (43.28 million), utilities (35.14 million), and business trusts (21,000).

-- BERNAMA