Bursa Malaysia reverses early gains due to profit-taking, ending modestly down

KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the rebound in regional markets, Bursa Malaysia gave up earlier gains to settle modestly lower today as local investors continued to profit, according to one analyst.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed at 1,619.40 last Friday, down 1.13 points, or 0.07 percent, at 5 p.m.

Throughout the trading session, the benchmark index, which began the day 1.27 points higher at 1,620.67, shifted between 1,617.98 and 1,622.40.

Declining counters outweighed rising counters in the overall market 682 to 530, with 486 counters remaining steady, 709 untraded, and 25 suspended.

From 5.61 billion units at RM4.58 billion last Friday, turnover rose to 5.64 billion units worth RM3.92 billion.

Following a robust profit report from Nvidia, Thong Pak Leng, vice-president of equity research at Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd, noted that the major regional indices concluded primarily higher due to significant purchasing in computer chip and semi-conductor stocks.

Furthermore, he claimed that Beijing’s recent stimulus measures had further stimulated the markets in China and Hong Kong.

Regionally, South Korea’s Kospi increased 1.32 percent to 2,722.99, Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index gained 1.14 percent to 3,124.04, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.66 percent to 38,900.02, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.17 percent to 18,827.35.

Regarding the local exchange, we think that the stability of the local economy and robust business profits will encourage bargain-hunting activities to flourish.

The benchmark index would therefore likely trend within the band of 1,615–1,635 for the coming week, he told Bernama, with immediate resistance at 1,635 and support at 1,610.

CIMB gained two sen to RM6.90, Tenaga Nasional climbed 12 sen to RM13.22, Maybank nudged up one sen to RM9.99, Public Bank dropped four sen to RM4.13, and Petronas Chemicals dropped six sen to RM6.87 among the heavyweights.

Regarding the actives, AHB Holdings added one sen to 20 sen, JCY International added 6.5 sen to 51.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange and Powerwell improved two sen each to 47 sen and 48.5 sen, respectively, while Pegasus Heights remained level at half a sen.

The top gainers were: Kluang Rubber Co (Malaya) up 22 sen to RM6.48, Hong Leong Industries up 20 sen to RM12.00, Vitrox Corp up 18 sen to RM7.88, Dutch Lady Milk Industries up 76 sen to RM33.76, and Chin Hin Group up 24 sen to RM3.44.

Heitech Padu down 50 sen to RM1.92, Heineken Malaysia dropped 26 sen to RM24.30, Malaysia Smelting Corp dropped 25 sen to RM2.95, and MSM Malaysia Holdings dropped 24 sen to RM2.61. Nestle was among the biggest losers.

The FBM Emas Index down 6.71 points to 12,347.12 on the index board, while the FBM 70 Index increased 11.80 points to 17,803.75, the FBM ACE Index improved 5.77 points to 5,549.92, and the FBMT 100 Index decreased 3.96 points to 11,944.29. The FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 4.73 points to 12,626.02 on the index board.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index dropped 44.30 points to 7,258.08, the Financial Services Index down 30.65 points to 17,658.34, the Energy Index dropped 2.12 points to 999.41, and the Industrial Products and Services Index dipped 0.16 of a point to 196.49.

From 3.28 billion units valued at RM4.02 billion last Friday to 3.29 billion units valued at RM3.33 billion this Friday, the Main Market volume increased somewhat.

From 1.26 billion units valued at RM163.70 million to 1.20 billion units valued at RM191.64 million, the turnover of warrants decreased.

From 1.05 billion shares valued at RM389.29 million to 1.14 billion shares valued at RM400.33 million, the ACE Market volume increased.

753.56 million shares were traded on the Main Market between counters for consumer products and services, industrial products and services (427.95 million), construction (282.98 million), technology (643.49 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (103.25 million), property (412.13 million), plantation (46.96 million), REITs (18.67 million), closed/fund (48,800), energy (221.18 million), healthcare (143.35 million), telecommunications and media (41.74 million), utility (91.23 million), transport. – BERNAMA