Bursa Malaysia Closes Marginally Lower On Profit-taking Activities

By Rosemarie Khoo

KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed marginally lower due to profit-taking activities on telecommunications, construction and energy stocks, analysts said. 

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined by 0.19 per cent, or 2.95 points, to 1,539.54 from last Friday’s close of 1,542.49. 

The market bellwether opened 0.71 of-a-point easier at 1,541.78 and moved between 1,534.52 and 1,548.95 throughout the trading session. 

Turnover decreased to 2.34 billion units worth RM2.08 billion against Friday’s 2.73 billion units valued at RM2.46 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices climbed modestly on the back of stronger local currencies, while trading volumes were light due to market closures in China and Hong Kong.

“Back home, we see today's profit-taking as a constructive pause, enabling the market to digest recent gains and establish a firmer base for sustained upside.

“This also presents an opportunity for bargain hunters given the cheaper valuations of the benchmark index. We anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,525-1,555 for the week,” Thong told Bernama. 

Among the heavyweights, 99 Speed Mart fell five sen to RM2.22, CelcomDigi shed seven sen to RM3.78, Kuala Lumpur Kepong declined 34 sen to RM19.52, Maxis slid six sen to RM3.65 and Petronas Dagangan lost 26 sen to RM19.24. 

In active trade, ACE Market debutant West River shed two sen to 37 sen, SFP Tech gained 1.5 sen to 23.5 sen, Nationgate shaved five sen to RM1.47, Velesto was flat at 15.5 sen and MYEG was eased two sen to 88.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 48.20 points lower at 11,441.18, the FBMT 100 Index depreciated 41.98 points to 11,215.26, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index weakened 86.85 points to 11,303.49.

The FBM 70 Index dwindled 142.05 points to 16,132.49, and the FBM ACE Index slid 24.14 points to 4,625.06.

Across sectors, the Financial Services Index rose 35.22 points to 18,276.17 while the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 0.50 of-a-point to 151.79, the Energy Index trimmed 12.26 points to 682.71, and the Plantation Index dropped 35.15 points to 7,248.62.

The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.51 billion units valued at RM1.91 billion against last Friday’s 1.70 billion units worth RM2.04 billion.

Warrants turnover decreased to 373.95 billion units worth RM22.31 million from 689.48 billion units valued at RM75.64 million previously. 

The ACE Market volume increased to 454.30 million units valued at RM139.10 million compared with 341.65 million units worth RM108.73 million on Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 213.85 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (227.14 million), construction (185.09 million), technology (238.31 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (53.31 million), property (206.55 million), plantation (16.86 million), REITs (18.85 million), closed/fund (11,200), energy (171.06 million), healthcare (60.85 million), telecommunications and media (32.68 million), transportation and logistics (32.16 million), utilities (58.01 million), and business trusts (5,000).

-- BERNAMA