KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index ended slightly lower by 0.17% on Thursday (Jan 20) on continuous selling in heavyweights led by Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), Public Bank Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd.  

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 2.58 points to 1,527.75 from 1,530.33 at Wednesday’s close after opening 0.89 of-a-point easier at 1,529.44.

The key index fluctuated between 1,525.45 and 1,532.82 throughout the trading session.

The overall market breadth, however, was positive with advancers outpacing decliners 518 to 402, while 416 counters were unchanged, 913 untraded, and 27 others suspended.

Total turnover eased to 3.39 billion units worth RM2.25 billion from Wednesday’s 3.57 billion units worth RM2.61 billion. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI hovered around its 1,530 support level on Thursday and the online stockbroking firm reckoned the accumulation of stocks to persist on dips.

“We continue to maintain our cautiously optimistic view and expect bargain-hunting activities to emerge, while on the other hand, we remain cautious given the increasing market volatility around the world.

“As such, we expect the benchmark index to trade within the 1,530-1,540 range towards the weekend,” he told Bernama.

Bank Negara Malaysia on Thursday maintained the overnight policy rate at 1.75% during its first Monetary Policy Committee meeting in 2022.  

Heavyweights Maybank declined four sen to RM8.24, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare Bhd fell one sen each to RM4.17 and RM6.55, respectively, while Petronas Chemicals slipped three sen to RM8.95 and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd trimmed eight sen to RM5.25. 

Meanwhile, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd soared 24 sen to RM6.12, Petronas Gas Bhd rose eight sen to RM16.82 and Tenaga Nasional Bhd was flat at RM9.07.   

Of the actives, ACE market debutant Coraza Integrated Technology Bhd soared 36.5 sen to 64.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange Bhd increased 5.5 sen to 96.5 sen, G3 Global Bhd and MMAG Holdings Bhd were both flat at eight sen respectively, while Ageson Bhd slipped one sen to 2.5 sen and SMTrack Bhd inched down half-a-sen to 22 sen.