KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 15): Bursa Malaysia closed lower for a second consecutive day on Tuesday (Nov 15), with the key index falling 0.92%, as sentiment turned jittery with investors trimming their positions ahead of the 15th general election (GE15), said a dealer. 

At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI had lost 13.46 points to end at 1,450.54, from Monday’s close at 1,464.00. 

The market bellwether opened 2.49 points easier at 1,461.51, its intraday high, and hit its day's low of 1,447.87 in the early morning session. 

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 541 to 332, while 376 counters were unchanged, 1,076 untraded, and 13 others suspended.

Turnover eased to 2.78 billion units valued at RM1.68 billion, versus 2.80 billion units valued at RM1.57 billion on Monday.   

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd senior analyst Kenneth Leong expects the cautious sentiment to linger towards the end of the week, as investors adopt the wait-and-see approach until they see the outcome of the GE15. 

At the same time, the focus would also be centred on the ongoing quarterly reporting season, he told Bernama. 

"We noticed that the healthcare sector (down 2.3%) snapped a seven-day winning streak to underperform the most in a negatively broader market, as profit-taking activities kicked in.

"Technically, the KLCI's immediate resistance is spotted at 1,465, while near-term support is seen at 1,440," said Leong. 

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng reckoned that the selldown over the past few days offers a buying opportunity for investors amid a strong inflow of foreign funds.

He anticipates the KLCI to trend within the 1,450 to 1,480 range for the week, with immediate resistance at 1,470 and support at 1,420.

Heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) slipped nine sen to RM8.50 on Tuesday, Public Bank Bhd eased one sen to RM4.37, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd dropped 10 sen to RM8.62, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd fell eight sen to RM5.41, and IHH Healthcare Bhd shed three sen to RM5.96. 

Among the actives, Advance Synergy Bhd declined 1.5 sen to 12.5 sen, Top Glove Corp Bhd shed five sen to 97 sen, KNM Group Bhd gained 1.5 sen to 6.5 sen, Borneo Oil Bhd was unchanged at two sen, and XOX Bhd was flat at 2.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Shariah Index was down by 76.41 points to 10,443.97, the FBM Emas Index dipped 79.50 points to 10,315.67, the FBMT 100 Index gave up 83.02 points to 10,044.97, and the FBM 70 declined 60.90 points to 12,304.57, while the FBM ACE improved 3.09 points to 5,013.12. 

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 117.19 points to 16,171.73, the Industrial Products and Services Index fell 0.48 of a point to 178.66, and the Energy Index slipped 6.32 points to 725.43, whereas the Plantation Index climbed 29.10 points to 6,931.46. 

The Main Market volume decreased to 1.82 billion shares worth RM1.44 billion, from 1.85 billion shares worth RM1.31 billion on Monday.    

Warrant turnover declined to 424.43 million units valued at RM71.52 million, from 427.98 million units valued at RM82.36 million.

The ACE Market volume increased to 538.95 million shares worth RM165.33 million, from 519.70 million shares worth RM171.71 million previously. 

Consumer product and service counters accounted for 467.83 million shares traded on the Main Market, followed by industrial products and services (444.47 million), construction (47.50 million), technology (133.53 million), special purpose acquisition companies (nil), financial services (59.46 million), property (146.62 million), plantation (11.39 million), real estate investment trusts (5.27 million), closed/funds (3,000), energy (160.05 million), healthcare (242.79 million), telecommunications and media (18.92 million), transportation and logistics (64.13 million), and utilities (13.88 million).