Bursa Malaysia Ends Lower, CI Falls Below 1,700 Mark
By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index ended lower on Tuesday, slipping below the key 1,700 level, as continued profit-taking and weak regional market performance, amid heightened geopolitical tensions, dampened investor risk appetite.
At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 13.27 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 1,699.06 from yesterday’s close of 1,712.33.
The market bellwether opened 1.31 points weaker at 1,711.02, marking the day’s high, and hit a low of 1,695.81 in the afternoon session before clawing back up toward the close.
Market breadth was negative with decliners thumping advancers 780 to 293, while 547 counters were unchanged, 1,047 untraded and 10 suspended.
Turnover declined to 2.85 billion units worth RM2.86 billion from Monday’s 3.08 billion units worth RM2.74 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said concerns intensified after US President Donald Trump reiterated his administration’s push for a US takeover of Greenland and threatened tariffs on European nations.
He said European states are said to be discussing retaliatory tariffs and wider economic countermeasures following renewed tariff threats from Trump.
“On the domestic front, the benchmark index has entered a short-term consolidation following its strong rally. This pause is viewed as healthy, allowing the market time to absorb recent gains and build a firmer base before the next potential leg higher.
“As long as the index holds above key support levels around 1,680–1,690 and foreign inflows remain intact, the broader uptrend is expected to resume, with the consolidation phase paving the way for a more sustainable second wave of the rally,” he told Bernama.
Among heavyweight stocks, Malayan Banking fell 10 sen to RM11.06, Public Bank slid eight sen to RM4.72, and CIMB Group lost 20 sen to RM8.17. Tenaga Nasional shed two sen to RM13.80, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM8.41.
On the actively traded list, ACE Market debutant SBS Nexus eased one sen to 24 sen, IJM declined eight sen to RM2.57, while SMRT inched up half-a-sen to 19 sen, Capital A increased two sen to 52.5 sen, and Zetrix AI was unchanged at 80.5 sen.
Leading gainers included Time dotCom which rose 17 sen to RM5.72, Dutch Lady firmed 12 sen to RM31.28, Tradeplus Shariah gained 11 sen to RM5.88, K.Seng Seng Corp surged 10.5 sen to 91.5 sen, and Pineapple Resources jumped 10 sen to 85 sen.
Among top decliners, Hong Leong Financial dropped RM1.30 to RM20.28, Hong Leong Bank fell 44 sen to RM23.86, Allianz slid 34 sen to RM21.34, while Petronas Gas and Fraser & Neave slipped 28 sen each to RM18.42 and RM35.72, respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 96.34 points to 12,515.20, the FBM Top 100 Index sank 94.30 points to 12,312.54, the FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 47.98 points to 12,192.71, the FBM Mid 70 Index slumped 124.93 points to 17,397.83, and the FBM ACE Index dipped 53.83 points to 4,881.24.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index tumbled 370.59 points to 20,444.55, while the Energy Index shed 6.30 points to 770.83, the Industrial Products and Services Index went down 1.50 points to 173.28, and the Plantation Index fell 20.34 points to 8,331.09.
The Main Market volume narrowed to 1.51 billion units worth RM2.58 billion from Monday’s 1.61 billion units worth RM2.47 billion.
Warrants turnover improved to 852.39 million units worth RM115.84 million from 846.15 million units worth RM103.22 million previously.
The ACE Market volume dwindled to 480.23 million units worth RM167.71 million from 622.52 million units worth RM194.23 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 248.76 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (231.18 million), construction (177.53 million), technology (222.22 million), financial services (148.21 million), property (176.91 million), plantation (25.68 million), real estate investment trusts (22.75 million), closed-end fund (74,100), energy (78.61 million), healthcare (81.27 million), telecommunications and media (37.82 million), transportation and logistics (36.74 million), utilities (30.14 million), and business trusts (137,300).
-- BERNAMA