Apex Securities Bhd head of research Kenneth Leong said the weakness was largely in tandem with the mostly negative performance across regional markets following the softer-than-expected China industrial profit data.
Leong said technically, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) formed a bearish candle as the key index erased all its gains in the previous sessions.
“For now, we expect the downward bias consolidation to extend with the key index approaching the 1,580-support level.
“Meanwhile, the immediate resistance is located at 1,600, followed by 1,630,” he said.
Leong expected uncertainties to prevail ahead of the US personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data release, which is the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) preferred inflation gauge.
“Apart from that, the US Chicago purchasing managers index (PMI) and Michigan consumer sentiment data are also set to be released later tonight,” he said.
Meanwhile, UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors’ head of investment research Sedek Jantan opined that investors are treading cautiously, adopting a wait-and-see approach to safeguard current profits until the PCE data is released.
“So far, the Fed Nowcast inflation data has indicated a slow improvement in the headline PCE for May 2024, standing at 2.62% compared to April’s actual figure of 2.65%.
“Slower progress in the PCE deflator data suggests the Fed may maintain its interest rates at least through another meeting session,” he told Bernama.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI eased 0.38% or 6.01 points to 1,584.94 from yesterday’s close of 1,590.95.
The benchmark index opened 0.58 of-a-point firmer at 1,591.53 and moved between 1,582.31 and 1,592.26 throughout the trading session.
On the broader market, decliners thumped gainers 804 to 320, with 455 counters unchanged, 862 untraded and 73 others suspended.
Turnover decreased to 4.23 billion units worth RM3.13 billion from yesterday’s 4.73 billion units worth RM3.22 billion.
Back home, heavyweights Maybank was flat at RM9.96, Tenaga Nasional added 2 sen to RM13.94, Public Bank eased 1 sen to RM4 and both CIMB and IHH Healthcare climbed 1 sen each to RM6.77 and RM6.28, respectively.
As for the most active counters, MyEG gave up 5 sen to 97 sen, YNH Property dropped 11 sen to 49.5 sen, Dagang NeXchange slipped 2.5 sen to 44 sen, VS Industry perked up 1 sen to RM1.25, and SBH Marine was up 2 sen to 34 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index shaved off 49.91 points to 12,160.84, the FBMT 100 Index fell 44.80 points to 11,747.54, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 71.30 points to 12,496.24, the FBM 70 Index declined 68.71 points to 17,720.15, and the FBM ACE Index slipped by 34.33 points to 5,688.98.
Sector-wise, the financial services index sank 24.91 points to 17,420.32, the energy index fell 10.37 points to 949.62, the industrial products and services index edged down 1.59 points to 195.25, and the plantation index shed 37.11 points to 6,950.82.
The Main Market volume declined to 2.36 billion units valued at RM2.74 billion from 2.5 billion units valued at RM2.74 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover dwindled to 1.05 billion units worth RM124.38 million compared with 1.40 billion units worth RM180.17 million previously.
The ACE Market volume narrowed to 816.94 million shares valued at RM273.74 million against 822.4 million shares valued at RM295.02 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 386.91 million shares traded on the Main Market; industrial products and services (490.04 million), construction (196.86 million); technology (415.54 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (82.39 million); property (331.52 million), plantation (32.15 million), REITs (16.48 million), closed/fund (8,400), energy (142.92 million); healthcare (59.96 million); telecommunications and media (72.33 million); transportation and logistics (71.18 million); utilities (55.79 million); and business trusts (2.7 million).