Bursa Malaysia Ends Week Sharply Lower Amid Regional Selloff
By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani and Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia finished the week sharply lower on Friday amid another round of selling across regional markets, as persistently high crude oil prices continued to weigh on market sentiment, an analyst said.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 18.78 points, or 1.10 per cent, to 1,686.74 from Thursday’s close of 1,705.52.
The benchmark index opened 10.23 points lower at 1,705.29 and moved between 1,682.56 and 1,705.69 throughout the trading session.
Market breadth was also negative, with decliners outnumbering gainers 809 to 427. A total of 474 counters were unchanged, 1,121 untraded and 32 suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 3.57 billion units worth RM3.28 billion from 3.98 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion on Thursday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Brent crude continued to trade above US$105 per barrel, while the US 10-year Treasury yield hovered around 4.95 per cent after briefly approaching 5.0 per cent, keeping pressure on equity valuations.
“The combination of higher energy costs and rising yields has heightened concerns that inflation could remain elevated and prompt further monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve. Geopolitical risks also showed little sign of easing, with shipping disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz compounded by concerns over developments near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait,” he told Bernama.
On the domestic front, Thong said the recent weakness was largely externally driven, with Malaysia’s underlying fundamentals remaining intact. The recent selloff had pushed the benchmark index closer to oversold territory, he added. “Domestically, we view the recent market weakness as largely externally driven, with Malaysia’s underlying fundamentals remaining intact. Technically speaking, the FBM KLCI at around 1,686 is showing signs of increasingly stretched selling pressure, with the relative strength index declining to 34.”
Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank fell eight sen to RM10.38, while Public Bank eased five sen to RM4.80, and CIMB dropped 13 sen to RM7.79. Tenaga lost 12 sen to RM13.60, and IHH Healthcare slipped 24 sen to RM7.65.
Actively traded stocks included Top Glove, which added 3.5 sen to 80 sen, while Zetrix AI and Luster Industries both remained flat at 25 sen and 3.5 sen, respectively. Supermax dipped one sen to 42 sen, and GTA added 2.5 sen to 35.5 sen.
The top gainers were led by Allianz Malaysia, which soared 68 sen to RM22.18, while Petronas Chemicals jumped 27 sen to RM5.09, and Eurospan rose 18 sen to RM3.15. Batu Kawan and Concrete Engineering firmed up 12 sen each to RM20.16 and RM4.00, respectively.
The top losers included Allianz Malaysia, which fell 56 sen to RM21.12, while Hong Leong Bank shed 52 sen to RM23.08, and Sunway Construction tumbled 47 sen to RM7.44. F&N lost 44 sen to RM23.56, and Vitrox slipped 32 sen to RM9.15.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 128.95 points to 12,510.20, the FBMT100 Index slid 132.59 points to 12,305.64, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 105.89 points to 12,396.81. The FBM70 Index erased 171.96 points to 17,728.64, and the FBM ACE Index fell 52.21 points to 5,260.23.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index fell 281.89 points to 19,622.21, and the Plantation Index trimmed 13.09 points to 9,436.02. The Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.10 of-a-point to 188.78, while the Energy Index gained 5.01 points to 814.43.
The Main Market volume dropped to 1.97 billion units valued at RM2.94 billion compared with 2.45 billion units worth RM2.81 billion on Thursday.
Warrant turnover expanded to 1.05 billion units worth RM139.33 million versus 978.99 million units valued at RM137.68 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume shrank to 552.67 million units valued at RM205.83 million from 557.55 million units worth RM188.69 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 211.04 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (308.53 million), construction (108.04 million), technology (407.08 million), financial services (72.34 million), property (112.15 million), plantation (51.34 million), real estate investment trusts (31.43 million), closed-end fund (32,500), energy (141.08 million), healthcare (423.42 million), telecommunications and media (31.11 million), transportation and logistics (37.73 million), utilities (36.61 million), and business trusts (25,200).
-- BERNAMA