KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Wednesday as the short-term market sentiment remains jittery amid the uncertain global performance, said an analyst.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 7.82 points to 1,530.60 from Tuesday’s close of 1,538.42.
The benchmark index opened 1.91 points lower at 1,536.51 and moved in a tight range between 1,528.52 and 1,536.58 throughout the day.
On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 645 to 422, while 450 counters were unchanged, 821 untraded, and 74 others suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 3.75 billion units worth RM3.10 billion from 3.83 billion units worth RM3.04 billion on Tuesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI closed lower after a lacklustre trading session in line with the regional market performance.
"The key regional indices closed mostly lower ahead of the United States (US) economic data and US Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell's speech, which could influence the US Fed's decision on interest rates.
"Investors are hoping that the Fed will kick off reductions to its main interest rate in June, with some considering a slight possibility of it starting at its meeting next week," he told Bernama.
As for the local bourse, Thong advised investors to stay alert for bargain-hunting opportunities.
"We anticipate the benchmark index to trend sideways with an upside bias, within the 1,530-1,540 range towards the weekend," he added.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank, Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals declined 4.0 sen each to RM9.65, RM4.21 and RM6.79 respectively, while CIMB Group
added 5.0 sen to RM6.55 and Tenaga Nasional gained 4.0 sen to RM11.24.
As for the actives, market debutant Zantat Holdings rose 12.5 sen to 37.5 sen, SP Setia and Lambo Group were flat at RM1.42 and 3.0 sen respectively, while Ekovest added 1.0 sen to 49.0 sen, and Computer Forms declined 1.0 sen to 14 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 35.61 points to 11,525.98, the FBMT 100 Index declined by 33.78 points to 11,172.54, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 52.32 points to 11,613.44, the FBM ACE Index slid 67.29 points to 4,842.73, while the FBM 70 Index rose by 46.591 points to 16,148.15.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index tumbled 45.96 points to 7,298.56 and the Financial Services Index lost 37.92 points to 17,182.12.
The Industrial Products and Services Index increased by 0.02 of-a-point to 179.540 and the Energy Index added 4.74 points to 942.99.
The Main Market volume slid to 2.19 billion units valued at RM2.75 billion from 2.39 billion units valued at RM2.69 billion on Tuesday.
Warrants turnover increased to 800.47 million units worth RM107.30 million from 717.87 million units worth RM112.12 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume expanded to 751.30 million shares worth RM238.38 million from 706.18 million shares worth RM226.65 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 270.20 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (464.88 million); construction (281.39 million); technology (152.30 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (103.33 million); property (504.64 million); plantation (36.35 million); REITs (14.35 million), closed/fund (26,200); energy (165.77 million); healthcare (39.34 million); telecommunications and media (47.74 million); transportation and logistics (42.81 million); and utilities (73.48 million).
Bursa Malaysia Bhd and its subsidiaries will be closed on Thursday in conjunction with Nuzul Al-Quran.
The exchange and its subsidiaries will resume operations on Friday. - Bernama
