KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 5): Bursa Malaysia finished lower on Monday following a strong US employment report that eliminated hopes of an interest rate cut, said an analyst.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 5.24 points to end at an intraday low of 1,511.34 from last Friday's (Feb 2) close of 1,516.58. 

The barometer index opened 0.67 of a point easier at 1,515.91 and hit an intraday higher of 1,520.98 earlier in the day. 

Decliners led advancers 605 to 390 on the broader market, while 441 counters were unchanged, 800 untraded, and 11 others suspended.

Turnover declined to 3.22 billion units valued at RM2.12 billion versus Friday's 3.54 billion units valued at RM2.99 billion. 

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the Malaysian bourse suffered a minor setback on Monday due to the strong US jobs report that pushed the US two-year Treasury yields higher as the market pares expectations for an imminent US interest rate cut.

He noted that the two-year Treasury yields, which are the proxy for US Federal Fund, shot up 20 basis points on Friday reflecting that the market no longer expects a 25-basis point rate cut in March. 

"However, anticipated policy action to shore up China's flagging economy continues to underpin regional markets, which are trading mixed given various sensitivity to a stronger US dollar across the board," he said.

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the KLCI ended marginally lower on Monday due to profit-taking activities following the recent rally.

"On the domestic front, we viewed the profit takings positively as it allows the market to digest the recent rally. We anticipate the benchmark index to stay in consolidation mode for the time being and trend within the range of 1,508-1,527 for the week with immediate resistance at 1,527 and support at 1,500," he said.

Back home, among the heavyweights, IHH Healthcare Bhd rose three sen to RM6.14, CelcomDigi Bhd added a sen to RM4.22, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd advanced three sen to RM4.68, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd was flat at RM6.23, Maybank Bhd and Public Bank Bhd shed two sen each to RM9.32 and RM4.41, respectively, while Tenaga Nasional Bhd dipped 12 sen to RM10.74 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd slipped 10 sen to RM6.68.  

As for the actives, Fintec Global Bhd and TWL Holdings Bhd were flat at half a sen and four sen, respectively, Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd declined two sen to 59.5 sen, Panda Eco System Bhd fell two sen to 23.5 sen, Minetech Resources Bhd shed a sen to 13.5 sen, while YTL Power Bhd trimmed 20 sen to RM3.74. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index discounted 35.51 points to 11,213.22, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 32.85 points to 10,883.17, the FBM 70 Index shed 25.5 points to 15,120.70, the FBM Emas Shariah Index dipped 32.24 points to 11,236.59, but the FBM ACE Index gained 5.18 points to 4,703.39. 

Sector-wise, the Property Index fell 8.89 points to 910.96, the Plantation Index slipped 13 points to 7,156.21 and the Energy Index erased 11.29 points to 869.67.

The Financial Services Index gave up 24.69 points to 16,980.24, and the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.04 points to 171.83.

The Main Market volume decreased to 1.87 billion units worth RM1.90 billion from Friday's 2.29 billion units worth RM2.75 billion. 

Warrants turnover went down to 644.86 million units veiled at RM99.25 million from 679.04 million units valued at RM102.62 million, previously.

The ACE Market volume swelled to 684.72 million shares worth RM123.71 million from Friday's 562.41 million shares worth RM138.3 million. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 304.83 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (370.71 million); construction (114.3 million); technology (142.88 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (89.65 million); property (386.74 million); plantation (20.68 million); REITs (30.36 million), closed/fund (10,600); energy (141.18 million); healthcare (64.69 million); telecommunications and media (41.34 million); transportation and logistics (45.98 million); and utilities (114.14 million).