Apex Securities Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong said investors were also offloading shares ahead of the public holiday tomorrow.
He expects the downward pressure to be sustained going forward in view of the lack of fresh leads, coupled with the ongoing concerns over the high interest rate environment which may potentially dampen the economic outlook.
“Technically, 1,433 points will serve as the immediate support. Any recovery may see gains (capped at) the 1,464 to 1,470 level,” he told Bernama.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 5.44 points to 1,440.11 from yesterday’s close of 1,445.55, after opening 4.69 points easier at 1,440.86.
The benchmark index moved between 1,436.75 and 1,441.87 throughout the session.
On the broader market, decliners beat gainers 572 to 341 while 442 counters were unchanged, 1,032 untraded and 100 others suspended.
Turnover dropped to 2.97 billion units worth RM1.94 billion from 3.15 billion units worth RM1.95 billion yesterday.
Meanwhile, investors are also keeping a close tab on the US second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data to be released tomorrow night.
Yesterday, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.5% for its fifth loss in six days, closing at 4,273.53.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1% to 33,618.88 and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.6% to 13,063.61.
At the close, Bursa heavyweights Maybank added one sen to RM8.88 and Tenaga Nasional gained eight sen to RM10.02, while CIMB was flat at RM5.55.
Public Bank fell five sen to RM4.14 and Petronas Chemicals lost 11 sen to RM7.22.
Of the actives, Evergreen Max Cash increased by 3.5 sen to 35 sen while Velesto and KNM were 0.5 sen higher at 25.5 sen and 51 sen, respectively.
MyEG eased two sen to 78 sen and Vsolar went down 4.5 sen to 18 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined by 46.5 points to 10,663.14, the FBMT 100 Index was 46.65 points easier at 10,326.84 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 44.34 points to 10,921.80.
The FBM ACE Index weakened by 39.16 points to 5,158.67 and the FBM 70 Index slumped 97.13 points to 14,167.24.
Sector-wise, the plantation index eased 16.02 points to 6,991.24, the industrial products and services index narrowed by 1.55 points to 172.66 and the financial services index decreased by 64.89 points to 16,123.63.
The energy index rose 9.98 points to 898.81.
The Main Market volume stood at 1.88 billion units worth RM1.66 billion from 1.88 billion units worth RM1.62 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover narrowed to 328.79 million units valued at RM37.32 million against 334.55 million units valued at RM40.74 million previously.
The ACE Market volume eased to 749.08 million shares worth RM241.13 million from 910.89 million shares worth RM293.66 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 278.49 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (367.35 million); construction (131.14 million); technology (203.61 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (53.65 million); property (314.33 million); plantation (30.31 million); REITs (6.74 million), closed/fund (5,000); energy (299.89 million); healthcare (51.65 million); telecommunications and media (31.32 million); transportation and logistics (63.45 million) and utilities (51.31 million).
Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries will be closed tomorrow (Thursday, Sept 28, 2023) in conjunction with Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday (Maulidur Rasul).