KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 21): Bursa Malaysia finished lower for the third consecutive day on Wednesday (Dec 21) due to persistent selling in heavyweights as investors remained wary following the surge in sovereign bond yields overnight, a dealer said.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 0.33% or 4.77 points to 1,462.55 from Tuesday's closing of 1,467.32.

The market bellwether, which opened 0.31 of-a-point easier at 1,467.01, moved between 1,458.82 and 1,469.42 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 502 to 357, while 413 counters were unchanged, 992 untraded, and 22 others suspended.

Turnover improved to 2.91 billion units worth RM1.71 billion versus 2.77 billion units worth RM1.78 billion on Tuesday.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said investors were also concerned about the higher US interest rates, which could blunt any hope for a global soft landing.

"In Asia, traders are still playing slower growth as China reopens versus the possibility of higher than expected growth in 2023. Bursa Malaysia could teeter-totter around these narratives into the year-end," he told Bernama.

It was reported the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is adding to the rate hike angst after the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank surprised the market with their hawkish side last week.

Japan's central bank unexpectedly tweaked its bond yield control, which allows long-term interest rates to rise more.

"The BOJ has triggered the surge in yields globally," Innes explained.

On the home front, Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) gained eight sen to RM8.78, and Public Bank Bhd added four sen to RM4.41, while Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd shed 10 sen to RM8.08, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd gave up three sen to RM5.79, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) lost one sen to RM9.17.

Of the actives, Citaglobal Bhd perked up 1.5 sen to 29 sen, Unique Fire Holdings Bhd rose 1.5 sen to 24.5 sen, Nylex (M) Bhd advanced 5.5 sen to 37.5 sen, while Advance Synergy Bhd eased half-a-sen to 18 sen, and JAKS Resources Bhd slid four sen to 24 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was down by 38.1 points to 10,494.75, the FBMT 100 Index fell 34.69 points to 10,205.53, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 88.9 points to 10,552.17, the FBM 70 Index gave up 49.53 points to 12,813.68, and the FBM ACE Index shed 8.48 points to 5,465.85.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index slipped 48.23 points to 6,773.35, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down by 2.34 points to 175.39, while the Financial Services Index rose 53.83 points to 16,602.18, and the Energy Index edged up 1.07 points to 784.27.   

The Main Market volume improved to 1.63 billion shares worth RM1.24 billion against 1.53 billion shares worth RM1.32 billion on Tuesday.

Warrants turnover rose to 298.01 million units valued at RM49.1 million versus 252.68 million units valued at RM59.34 million.

The ACE Market volume eased to 981.97 million shares worth RM420.68 million compared with 988.72 million shares worth RM401.51 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 268.23 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (591.51 million), construction (116.7 million), technology (184.04 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (39.65 million), property (87.5 million), plantation (15.45 million), REITs (4.84 million), closed/fund (8,100), energy (158.37 million), healthcare (71.87 million), telecommunications and media (46.19 million), transportation and logistics (32.03 million), and utilities (15.17 million).