As for the local bourse, Rakuten's Thong reckoned that the recent selldown would provide opportunities for investors to accumulate stocks at attractive levels given their cheaper valuation.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower for the third consecutive day in tandem with the regional selldown, following the negative cue from global equities overnight.
At 5pm yesterday, the FBM KLCI slipped 2.71 points to 1,441.85 from 1,444.56 at Wednesday’s close. The key index opened 3.19 points weaker at 1,441.37 and moved between 1,433.04 and 1,442.78 throughout the day.
On the overall market, decliners thumped advancers 510 to 361, while 431 counters were unchanged, 970 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 2.94 billion units worth RM1.65bil.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the US economy is under scrutiny as investors assessed the country’s ability to steer clear of the expected recession that many had foreseen due to the consecutive interest rate increases to temper inflation.
The Caixin survey by S&P Global revealed that China’s services sector activity witnessed significant expansion in July, indicating a stronger pace of growth.Hence, Thong anticipated that this would create positive spillover effects on regional markets including Malaysia.
As for the local bourse, he reckoned that the recent selldown would provide opportunities for investors to accumulate stocks at attractive levels given their cheaper valuation. “Having said this, investors should remain cautious about external factors given the increasing regional market volatility and uncertainties in the global economic prospects.
“Under normal conditions, without any unforeseen circumstances, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,435 to 1,445 range towards the weekend.
“Technically speaking, we see the immediate resistance at 1,460 and support at 1,440,” he told Bernama.
On the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd
fell five sen to RM8.90, Public Bank Bhd lost four sen to RM4.09, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd decreased one sen each to RM5.46 and RM9.56 respectively, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd added 10 sen to RM6.85.Of the actives, UEM Sunrise Bhd was down 1.5 sen to 49 sen and Classita Holdings Bhd rose 3.5 sen to 16 sen, while Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd, Mudajaya Group Bhd and Komarkcorp Bhd were all flat at 37.5 sen, 18.5 sen and four sen, respectively.
