At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.35 points to 1,492.33 from yesterday’s close of 1,497.68, weighed down by selling in selected index-linked counters, led by Hartalega.
The benchmark index, which opened 1.96 points easier at 1,495.72, remained in negative territory throughout the day, moving in a tight range between 1,490.22 and 1,496.25.
The broader market was negative as losers beat gainers 601 to 242, while 395 counters were unchanged, 1,047 not traded and eight others suspended.
Total turnover decreased to 2.17 billion units worth RM1.68 billion from 2.52 billion units worth RM1.26 billion yesterday.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd analyst Kenneth Leong said the key index turned lower on profit-taking in heavyweights particularly those linked to Petronas as well as banking and gloves counters.
He said the sharp decline in Hartalega’s share price was attributed to the company’s weak quarterly results, which in turn affected the performance of the key index.
Hartalega tumbled 35 sen or 12.5% to RM2.45 with 32.04 million shares changing hands.
“Bursa Malaysia was mainly weighed down by Hartalega while investors are unwinding their positions amid the uncertainty over the release of US inflation data tonight that will provide further guidance over the pace of interest rate hike next month,” he told Bernama.
Leong said investors will also be monitoring the ongoing batch of corporate earnings releases that might determine the movement of the local market, pegging the downside risk at 1,460, while the resistance is spotted at 1,530.
Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional markets trended broadly lower following negative cues from Wall Street overnight, with heavy selling in technology stocks on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
He also said the ongoing geopolitical worries between the US and China over Taiwan also continued to weigh down on market sentiment.
“We expect the benchmark index to move sideways, within the 1,490 to 1,510 range for the remainder of the week,” he said, adding that the immediate resistance stood at 1,510 and support at 1,480.
Among the heavyweights, Maybank and CIMB added a sen each to RM8.90 and RM5.30 respectively, Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare bagged two sen each to RM8.72 and RM6.42 respectively, while Public Bank eased three sen to RM4.63.
Of the actives, G3 Global slipped half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, Top Glove lost 5.5 sen to 93 sen, Metronic was flat at 5.5 sen, while Dagang NeXchange eased two sen to 87 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 59.87 points to 10,561.74, the FBMT 100 Index shaved off 56.99 points to 10,314.16, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 83.78 points to 10,669.3, the FBM 70 erased 150.01 points to 12,552.1 and the FBM ACE slid 55.11 points to 4,831.63.
Sector-wise, the financial services index gave up 37.54 points to 16,649.61, the energy index shed 6.05 points to 646.64, the industrial products and services index eased 0.92 of-a-point to 180.95, while the plantation index rose 21.63 points to 7,123.87.
The main market volume declined to 1.48 billion shares worth RM1.49 billion from 1.77 billion shares worth RM1.06 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover dipped to 322.59 million units valued at RM47.53 million versus 371.97 million units valued at RM62.28 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume dwindled to 365.79 million shares worth RM130.92 million from 386.04 million shares worth RM136.99 million previously.