Bursa reverses earlier gains to end lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index fell 0.43% to close at its intraday low, reversing earlier gains as a wave of late-session selling erased the day’s advances.

IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Sedek Jantan said the index traded in positive territory for much of the day before profit-taking intensified in the final minutes, reflecting investors’ cautious stance amid a lack of fresh market catalysts.

Sedek said that despite the weaker close, yesterday’s RM199 million net buying by local institutional investors is expected to continue providing an important buffer against persistent foreign selling pressure.

However, he told Bernama that near-term market sentiment is likely to remain fragile until stronger domestic catalysts emerge or there is greater clarity on the global interest rate outlook.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 7.23 points to 1,656.83 from yesterday’s close of 1,664.06.

The benchmark index opened 1.29 points higher at 1,665.35 and climbed to an intraday high of 1,670.99 in the mid-morning session, before losing momentum in the final 10 minutes, dragging the index to its session low at the close.

Market breadth was positive, with gainers outnumbering decliners 526 to 448, while 559 counters were unchanged, 1,088 untraded, and 14 suspended.

Turnover decreased to 2.51 billion units valued at RM2.26 billion from 2.91 billion units valued at RM2.77 billion yesterday.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank was 12 sen lower at RM10.66, Public Bank dropped 5 sen to RM4.75, Tenaga Nasional lost 8 sen to RM14.20, and IHH fell 10 sen to RM8.30, while CIMB increased 1 sen to RM7.42.

Of the active counters, Tanco and VS Industry were flat at 17.5 sen and 20 sen, respectively, while Dagang NeXchange improved 3.5 sen to 45 sen, Silver Ridge and GIIB each gained 4.5 sen to 17.5 sen and 51 sen, respectively.

On the gainers’ list, Critical Holdings soared 32 sen to RM1.41, YTL Power jumped 29 sen to RM4.47, Pentamaster rose 16 sen to RM4.94, Ayer Holdings climbed 20 sen to RM7.20, and UMS Integration surged 28 sen to RM8.49.

Among the top losers, Nestle slipped RM1.70 to RM91.76, Malaysian Pacific Industries sank 66 sen to RM49, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell by 18 sen to RM20.98, Gas Malaysia slid 10 sen to RM5.20, and PPB erased 13 sen to RM9.16.

On the broader market, the FBM Emas Index was 35.99 points lower at 12,349.12, the FBM Top 100 Index lost 39.62 points to 12,175.42, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 43.13 points to 12,240.72.

The FBM Mid 70 Index eased 1.09 points to 17,916.37 while the FBM ACE Index garnered 45.31 points to 4,868.74.

Sector-wise, the financial services index tumbled 124.89 points to 19,485.77, the energy index increased 4.91 points to 756.55, the plantation index shed 11.72 points to 8,843.04, while the industrial products and services index edged down 0.24 of a point to 180.39.

The Main Market volume trimmed to 1.37 billion units valued at RM2 billion compared with 1.52 billion units valued at RM2.48 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover dwindled to 643.76 million units worth RM70.74 million versus 883.88 million units worth RM111.20 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume declined to 496.33 million units valued at RM185.67 million from 502.82 million units valued at RM176.25 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 151.37 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (331.21 million), construction (67.01 million), technology (274.67 million), financial services (48.29 million), property (218.33 million), plantation (16.07 million), real estate investment trusts (12.16 million), closed-end fund (5,000), energy (64.04 million), healthcare (52.38 million), telecommunications and media (30.38 million), transportation and logistics (27.60 million), utilities (80.47 million), and business trusts (80,500).