Bursa Malaysia ends lower as late selling hits blue chips

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Bursa Malaysia reversed earlier gains to close marginally lower on Friday, pressured by late selling in blue-chip stocks as investors turned cautious amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainties in West Asia, which continued to dampen market sentiment.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 1.86 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 1,683.07 from Thursday’s close of 1,684.93.

The benchmark index opened 3.25 points higher at 1,688.18. and moved between 1,680.59 and 1,694.65 throughout the session.

However, the broader market was positive, with gainers outpacing losers 680 to 512, while 529 counters were unchanged, 921 untraded, and 51 suspended.

Turnover rose to 4.94 billion units valued at RM10.74 billion compared with 3.53 billion units valued at RM4.19 billion on Thursday. 

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research, Thong Pak Leng, said regional markets rebounded amid growing optimism that the United States and Iran could reach a peace agreement, easing concerns over potential disruptions to global energy supplies.

“Consequently, Brent crude oil prices declined to around US$92 per barrel.

“However, back home, we remain cautious as negotiations between the US and Iran have yet to yield a definitive outcome, while geopolitical uncertainties in West Asia continue to weigh on investor confidence,” he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank gained 14 sen to RM10.64, Tenaga Nasional added four sen to RM14.28, and IHH Healthcare edged up two sen to RM9.01, while Public Bank fell six sen to RM4.71 and CIMB Group slipped one sen to RM7.48.

Among the active stocks, Axiata perked up two sen to RM2.00, YTL Corp and MR D.I.Y. were one sen higher at RM2.05 and RM1.58, respectively, QL Resources jumped 20 sen to RM3.60, and NationGate Holdings soared 12 sen to 88 sen.

Leading gainers included Hong Leong Industries, which surged 62 sen to RM19.00, United Plantations and Ajinomoto rose 58 sen each to RM31.08 and RM13.86, respectively, and Petronas Dagangan climbed 40 sen to RM17.74, and Kuala Lumpur Kepong put on 36 sen to RM20.32.

Among the top losers, Nestle sank RM4.00 to RM91.00,  Allianz Malaysia dipped 40 sen to RM21.52, Malayan Cement dropped 35 sen to RM6.54, while Hong Leong Bank and Petronas Chemicals each lost 30 sen to RM20.88 and RM5.21, respectively.

 On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 38.84 points to 12,580.12, the FBM Top 100 Index increased 37.06 points to 12,417.54, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index added 53.16 points to 12,604.07.

The FBM Mid 70 Index surged 270.64 points to 18,484.33 and the FBM ACE Index advanced 42.67 points to 4,763.81.

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index shed 0.51 of a point to 197.82, the Financial Services Index fell 21.72 points to 19,524.29, the Plantation Index slid 5.41 points to 8,499.54, and the Energy Index eased 4.15 points to 778.75.

The Main Market volume expanded to 3.56 billion units valued at RM10.15 billion from 1.98 billion units valued at RM3.87 billion on Thursday.

Warrants turnover slipped to 830.47 million units valued at RM105.18 million from 971.39 million units valued at RM117.20 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume narrowed to 550.09 million units valued at RM218.76 million from 583.66 million units valued at RM206.61 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 750.34 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (502.46 million), construction (220.58 million), technology (342 million), financial services (296.28 million), property (230.92 million), plantation (61.57 million), real estate investment trusts (42.34 million), closed-end fund (65,000), energy (118.92 million), healthcare (198.96 million), telecommunications and media (403.70 million), transportation and logistics (26.58 million), utilities (362.81 million), and business trusts (32,200).

Bursa Malaysia will be closed on June 1 and 2 for the King’s Birthday and Wesak Day holidays, and will resume operations on June 3. — Bernama 

المصدر: Malay Mail