Rakuten's Thong said the FBM KLCI pared earlier losses to end slightly lower as buying in commodity-related stocks and support for banking counters emerged in the afternoon session.
PETALING JAYA: Bursa Malaysia’s key index finished marginally lower yesterday amid the mixed regional market performance with the closure of the US markets for the Independence Day holiday.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI fell 3.40 points, or 0.24%, to 1,392.49 from 1,395.89 at Monday’s close.
The key index opened 2.33 points lower at 1,393.56 yesterday morning and moved between 1,388.85 and 1,396.33 points throughout the session.
However, the broader market was positive as gainers trounced losers 408 to 388, while 421 counters were unchanged, 1,028 untraded and 27 others suspended.
Turnover decreased marginally to 2.60 billion units worth RM1.57bil versus 2.61 billion units worth RM1.50bil on Monday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI pared earlier losses to end slightly lower as buying in commodity-related stocks and support for banking counters emerged in the afternoon session.
“The key regional markets closed mixed, with profit-taking in several bourses following yesterday’s strong rally.
“Meanwhile, China and Hong Kong were slightly positive on improving geopolitical relations between the United States and China, as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to Beijing from July 6-9 for diplomatic talks,” he told Bernama.
On the home front, Thong believes that investor sentiment will remain stable as consensus expects the overnight policy rate to remain unchanged at the upcoming Bank Negara Monetary Policy Committee meeting scheduled for today and tomorrow.
“As such, we foresee the FBM KLCI trending within the range of 1,390 to 1,405 for the rest of the week, with immediate resistance at 1,400 and support at 1,373,” he added.
Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group
Holdings Bhd rose four sen to RM5.20, Tenaga Nasional Bhd added three sen to RM9.13, Malayan Banking Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd eased five sen each to RM8.70 and RM5.83, respectively, and Public Bank Bhd slid three sen to RM3.91.
Of the actives, Naim Holdings Bhd surged 24 sen to 88.5 sen, Farm Fresh Bhd lost five sen to RM1.14, KNM Group Bhd eased one sen to eight sen, while Fitters Diversified Bhd and Sarawak Consolidated Industries were flat at four sen and 47 sen, respectively.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist and social finance head Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said lower-than-expected US Institute for Supply Management manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, which came in at 46 points in June, helped lift up the ringgit.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dipped 13.73 points to 10,258.82, the FBMT 100 Index declined 18.50 points to 9,955.80, the FBM Emas Syariah Index gave up 4.50 points to 10,530.38, the FBM ACE Index dropped 20.71 points to 5,094.87, and the FBM 70 Index shed 0.53 of-a-point to 13,531.10.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index trimmed 34.91 points to 15,483.17, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.10 of-a-point to 158.80, the Energy Index increased 4.27 points to 792.41, and the Plantation Index climbed 2.26 points to 6,829.74.
The Main Market volume rose to 1.90 billion units valued at RM1.33bil from 1.80 billion units valued at RM1.26bil on Monday. The ACE Market volume decreased to 429.28 million shares valued at RM193.23mil from 483.43 million shares valued at RM179.48mil previously.
