KUALA LUMPUR (June 22): Heavy selling of plantation, energy and healthcare stocks dragged Bursa Malaysia to finish at its lowest level in 25 months, dealers said. 

At 5pm on Wednesday (June 22), the barometer index closed 26.78 points or 1.83% lower at 1,431.10 from Tuesday's close at 1,457.88.

This is the weakest level last seen on the local exchange when it closed at 1,435.12 on May 20, 2020.

The key index opened 3.25 points firmer at 1,461.13 and hit a high of 1,461.53 in early morning before slipping to its intraday low of 1,431.10 at the close.

On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 640 to 255, while 381 counters were unchanged, 999 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Total turnover decreased to 2.72 billion units worth RM1.9 billion from 2.79 billion units worth RM1.86 billion on Tuesday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the decline on the local bourse was in tandem with the regional performance whereby the key indices were broadly lower as investors were cautious ahead of US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's key testimony before Congress later, which is expected to sound extremely hawkish.

"Additionally, worries about an economic downturn in the US could spread to other regions of the world,” Thong told Bernama. 

The direction of the local bourse in the near term remains uncertain and would depend very much on regional volatility, he added.

"Nonetheless, at current levels, we believe the FBM KLCI remains in an oversold position, hence we expect the benchmark index to stage a rebound soon," he said.

Thong anticipates the local bourse to move higher within the range of 1,430 to 1,460 for the remainder of the week, with immediate resistance at 1,490 and support at 1,415.

Bursa heavyweights Sime Darby Plantation Bhd shed 38 sen to RM4.04, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) slid RM1.30 to RM22.14, IHH Healthcare Bhd fell 11 sen to RM6.38, Hartalega Holdings Bhd slipped 23 sen to RM2.17 and Dialog Group Bhd eased three sen to RM2.07.  

Of the actives, TWL Holdings Bhd declined one sen to 6.5 sen, whereas Top Glove Corp Bhd decreased seven sen to RM1.01, while MNC Wireless Bhd was unchanged at 1.5 sen, Lay Hong Bhd added 1.5 sen to 28.5 sen and Cypark Resources Bhd gained one sen to 42.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slumped 183.60 points to 10,211.24, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 223.56 points to 10,343.98, FBM 70 slid 192.92 points to 12,359.51, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 178.96 points to 9,952.34 and FBM ACE declined 109.49 points to 4,715.49.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index sank 183.06 points to 15,976.12, the Plantation Index tumbled 325.34 points to 6,789.63, and the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 3.30 points to 183.06.

The Main Market volume expanded to 1.73 billion shares worth RM1.65 billion from 1.69 billion shares worth RM1.56 billion on Tuesday.

Warrant turnover improved to 547.89 million units valued at RM106.68 million against 543.84 million units valued at RM102.68 million on Tuesday.

The ACE Market volume dwindled to 441.9 million shares worth RM137.99 million from 555.05 million shares worth RM200.21 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 332.79 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services (471.3 million), construction (49.78 million), technology (154.45 million), special purpose acquisition companies (nil), financial services (59.15 million), property (241.17 million), plantation (48.82 million), real estate investment trusts (6.07 million), closed/funds (nil), energy (202.52 million), healthcare (110.63 million), telecommunications and media (25.52 million), transportation and logistics (24.62 million), and utilities (11.75 million).