KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended lower on the first trading day of the week on profit-taking in most index-related counters following the recent rally and in tandem with the downbeat performance in regional markets.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 14.48 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 1,622.07 from Friday's close of 1,636.55.
The market bellwether opened 0.57 of-a-point higher at 1,637.12, its day’s high, and continued to slide to an intraday low of 1,616.74 before the midday break.
On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 1,044 to 285, with 404 counters unchanged, 715 untraded, and 16 others suspended.
Turnover expanded to 5.34 billion units worth RM3.42 billion from last Friday's 4.43 billion units worth RM3.27 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng viewed today's sell-off as a healthy correction, allowing the market to absorb the recent uptrend and presenting a favourable opportunity to accumulate stocks at lower levels.
"The benchmark index has experienced a notable decline over the past week, dropping from a high of 1,638.29 to 1,617.04.
"Despite this short-term pullback, the index remains above key long-term moving averages, indicating that the broader trend remains upward," he told Bernama.
Overall, Thong said that the current outlook advises caution in the short term but remains positive in the long term, provided that the key support levels are maintained.
"We anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,610-1,630 range for the week," he said.
He added that investors, on the other hand, seemed well-prepared for the announcement that US President Joe Biden exited the election race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate.
Back home, heavyweights Maybank fell 4.0 sen to RM10.06, Public Bank dropped 5.0 sen to RM4.19, CIMB Group declined 3.0 sen to RM7.12, and IHH Healthcare decreased 7.0 sen to RM6.26, and Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM14.44.
Among the actives, ACE Market debutant BWYS Group increased 13.0 sen to 35.0 sen and Hubline Bhd was half-a-sen higher at 10.5 sen, while Sapura Energy, MY E.G. Services and Ekovest Bhd eased half-a-sen each to 4.0 sen, 98 sen and 56 sen, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slid 111.75 points to 12,547.51, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 105.15 points to 12,127.27, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index tumbled 129.51 points to 12,907.59, the FBM 70 Index declined 150.43 points to 18,677.58, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 43.29 points to 5,890.92.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dipped 71.96 points to 17,900.82, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 2.07 points to 194.95, the Energy Index slipped 13.53 points to 962.06, and the Plantation Index lost 16.47 points to 7,208.38.
The Main Market volume advanced to 2.83 billion units valued at RM2.83 billion from Friday's 2.35 billion units valued at RM2.84 billion.
Warrants turnover increased to 1.29 billion units worth RM168.58 million from 1.19 billion units worth RM158.20 million previously.
The ACE Market volume surged to 1.20 billion shares valued at RM414.61 million from 888.68 million shares valued at RM277.57 million last Friday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 372.89 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (659.99 million), construction (377.23 million), technology (329.04 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (86.29 million), property (323.21 million), plantation (42.12 million), REITs (18.19 million), closed/fund (17,200), energy (302.13 million), healthcare (71.24 million), telecommunications and media (49.57 million), transportation and logistics (129.32 million), utilities (75.68 million), and business trusts (1.17 million).
-- BERNAMA
