KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22): Bursa Malaysia ended mixed on Monday, with the benchmark index barely moving due to a lack of catalysts, said an analyst.  

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched up 1.33 points, or 0.09%,  to finish at 1,526.87. The key index moved between 1,522.71 and 1,529.26 throughout the day.

The index opened 1.22 points better at 1,526.76 compared with 1,525.54 at Friday’s close.

On the broader market, decliners led gainers 569 to 373, while 449 counters were unchanged, 931 untraded and 19 others suspended.

Turnover fell to 2.45 billion shares worth RM1.99 billion from Friday’s 2.67 billion shares worth RM2.01 billion. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said investors were concerned about the resurgence of Covid-19 cases and that fresh lockdowns in Europe could affect the global economic recovery.

“On the domestic front, the FBM KLCI trended in a tight consolidation mode for more than a week, hence we prefer to remain cautious. As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to hover within the range of 1,525-1,535 for next week,” he told Bernama. 

From a technical point of view, immediate support is unchanged at 1,520, followed by psychological support at 1,500, while resistance at 1,565, he said.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd strengthened seven sen to RM8.15, IHH Healthcare Bhd jumped eight sen to RM6.62, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd increased six sen to RM5.16, Public Bank Bhd was flat at RM4.07, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd eased one sen to RM8.30 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd shed five sen to RM9.50.  

Of the actives, Dagang NeXchange Bhd went up 2.5 sen to 85 sen, NWP Holdings Bhd added one sen to 35.5 sen, JAG Bhd rose 1.5 sen to 35.5 sen, PDZ Holdings Bhd and Metronic Global Bhd were one sen easier to five sen and 1.5 sen, respectively, while CTOS Digital Bhd slipped 10 sen to RM1.87.  

On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index increased 0.9 of-a-point to 10,896.48, the FBM Emas Index inched down 0.38 of-a-point to 11,245.26, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index discounted 15.98 points to 12,211.77, the FBM ACE weakened 21.49 points to 6,793.57, and the FBM 70 fell 32.32 points to 14,751.24. 

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index bagged 56.41 points to 15,281.99, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched up 0.72 of-a-point to 200.51, and the Plantation Index expanded by 80.33 points to 6,685.43. 

The Main Market volume eased to 1.67 billion shares worth RM1.74 billion, from 1.86 billion shares worth RM1.75 billion on Friday.   

Warrants turnover fell to 243.42 million units worth RM33.5 million, from 298.96 million units worth RM73.11 million previously.

The volume on the ACE Market increased to 536.41 million shares valued at RM219.11 million from Friday’s 512.95 million shares valued at RM191.04 million. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 234.41 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (512.93 million), construction (41.78 million), technology (242.47 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (56.88 million), property (151.09 million), plantation (25.18 million), REITs (11.49 million), closed/fund (83,100), energy (142.33 million), healthcare (52.75 million), telecommunications and media (19.47 million), transportation and logistics (165.18 million), and utilities (12.59 million).