IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist Sedek Jantan said today’s pullback remained orderly and should be viewed as a healthy consolidation rather than a sign of structural weakness.
“Today’s decline was primarily driven by domestic profit-taking rather than any deterioration in market fundamentals. Hence, we expect the FBM KLCI to hold above the 1,609 support level this week,” he told Bernama.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 8.06 points, or 0.49%, to 1,630.03, from yesterday’s close of 1,638.09.
The benchmark index opened 2.03 points lower at 1,636.06, and moved between 1,624.35 and 1,636.50 throughout the trading session.
The market breadth was negative, with 717 decliners overwhelming 368 gainers, while 463 counters were unchanged, 1,028 remained untraded, and seven were suspended.
Turnover dropped to 3.48 billion units worth RM2.99 billion, compared with 3.69 billion units valued at RM2.61 billion yesterday.
Among heavyweight counters, IHH Healthcare lost 16 sen to RM8.19, Maybank dropped seven sen to RM9.95, and Maxis eased six sen to RM3.64. Tenaga Nasional fell eight sen to RM13.28, and Gamuda erased seven sen to RM5.40.
In active trade, Borneo Oil and Pharmaniga were unchanged at 0.5 sen and 28.5 sen, respectively. ACE Market debutant Cheeding soared 37.5 sen to 73.5 sen, while NexG slipped 1.5 sen to 87.5 sen, and Tanco dipped 2.5 sen to 86 sen.
Besides Cheeding, other top gainers included Malaysian Pacific Industries, which jumped 48 sen to RM31.48, while Nestle added 36 sen to RM97.66 and Fraser and Neave gained 28 sen to RM28.28. Unisem bounced 21 sen to RM3.56, and PPB was 16 sen firmer at RM10.68.
Top losers included Malayan Cement, which went down 21 sen to RM6.73, while Kluang Rubber lost 20 sen to RM5.50 and LPI slid 18 sen to RM14.40. Batu Kawan slipped 16 sen to RM18.82, and KESM Industries erased 15 sen to RM3.77.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index eased 53.60 points to 12,127.32, the FBMT 100 Index erased 52.62 points to 11,859.85, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 64.37 points to 12,133.34.
The FBM 70 Index fell 48.82 points to 16,965.60, while the FBM ACE Index reduced 22.06 points to 5,311.41.
By sector, the industrial products and services index inched up 0.07 of a point to 173.59, while the energy index narrowed 5.56 points to 780.57, and the plantation index shed 26.18 points to 7,793.85. The financial services index was 63.96 points lower at 18,571.95.
The Main Market volume rose to 2.37 billion units valued at RM2.63 billion, versus 1.99 billion units worth RM2.27 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover dropped to 410.23 million units worth RM39.22 million, compared with 1.12 billion units valued at RM154.52 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume increased to 703.19 million shares, valued at RM316.30 million, compared with 573.35 million shares worth RM182.53 million previously.
On the Main Market, consumer products and services counters accounted for 357 million shares traded, followed by industrial products and services (706.90 million), construction (160.11 million), technology (273.56 million), financial services (63.26 million), property (196.64 million), plantation (25.02 million), REITs (20.32 million), closed/fund (102,000), energy (201.89 million), healthcare (211.33 million), telecommunications and media (56.26 million), transportation and logistics (60.46 million), utilities (36.96 million), and business trusts (6,000).