KUALA LUMPUR (July 6): Bursa Malaysia ended Wednesday’s trading in the red amid heavy profit-taking in plantation and energy stocks.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 19.96 points or 1.39% to end the day at 1,420.85 from Tuesday’s close of 1,440.81, marking its lowest level since May 19, 2020.

The benchmark index opened 1.76 points higher at 1,442.57 and moved between 1,419.5 and 1,448.09 throughout the day.

The overall market breadth was negative amid broad selling as losers thumped gainers 717 to 208, while 388 counters were unchanged, 910 untraded, and seven others suspended.

Total turnover increased to 2.16 billion units valued at RM1.63 billion from Tuesday’s 1.99 billion units valued at RM1.21 billion.   

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng expected investors' sentiment to remain jittery given the heightened global volatility, although bargain hunting may set in.

“We foresee the FBM KLCI to stay in consolidation mode and hovering within the 1,420-1,440 range for the remainder of the week. Technically speaking, we spot the immediate support at 1,400 and resistance at 1,460,” he told Bernama.

The weakness in the local bourse was also in line with most regional markets, dragged by the slump in commodities prices which caused heavy selloffs in energy and material stocks.

“The surge in Covid-19 infections in China also hurt market sentiment as it reignited worries about potential lockdowns,” said Thong.

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.07% to 3,102.04, Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 1.20% to 26,107.65 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.22% to 21,586.66.

On the local bourse, heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd added one sen to RM8.62, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd increased five sen to RM5.10, Petronas Gas Bhd advanced eight sen to RM16.40, Public Bank Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd fell two sen each to RM4.39 and RM6.38, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd trimmed 47 sen to RM8.65 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd shed eight sen to RM7.94.

Of the actives, Jade Marvel Group Bhd gained one sen to 91.5 sen, Sapura Energy Bhd and Yong Tai Bhd were flat at 4.5 sen and 8.5 sen, respectively, Velesto Energy Bhd eased one sen to nine sen, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd slipped 7.5 sen to 92.5 sen, and Top Glove Corp Bhd shed half-a-sen to 94 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 138.96 points to 10,104.55, FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 217.42 points to 10,148.71, FBM 70 shaved off 134.29 points to 12,173.27, FBM ACE decreased 20.25 points to 4,626.72, and the FBMT 100 Index gave up 131.56 points to 9,862.44.   

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index went down 18.42 points to 16,065.76, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 5.47 points easier at 175.48, and the Plantation Index dipped 343.59 points to 6,471.79.

Main Market volume expanded to 1.42 billion shares worth RM1.47 billion against Tuesday’s 1.07 billion shares worth RM984.74 million.   

Warrants turnover eased to 431.29 million units worth RM77.84 million from 452.94 million units worth RM94.0 million on Tuesday.  

ACE Market volume dwindled to 304.42 million shares worth RM82.19 million from 466.66 million shares worth RM126.58 million previously.   

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 159.39 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (335.02 million), construction (55.58 million), technology (134.94 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (57.1 million), property (140.08 million), plantation (69.81 million), REITs (3.27 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (343.86 million), healthcare (65.77 million), telecommunications and media (30.9 million), transportation and logistics (16.41 million), and utilities (8.52 million).