Bursa slips further at mid-day
(Bernama) – Bursa Malaysia slipped further to end the morning session lower today on a continued sell-down amid uncertainties and risks arising from the ongoing US-China trade war, alongside lower crude oil prices.
At 12.30pm, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped below the critical level of 1,700, easing 18.47 points to 1,691.28.
It was the lowest level seen since Feb 8, 2017 when the FBM KLCI closed at 1,688.50.
The index opened 0.69-of-a- point firmer at 1,710.44 from yesterday’s close of 1,709.75 and moved between 1,689.0 and 1,710.71 throughout the session.
A dealer said concerns over the trade spat, coupled with the softer crude oil prices ahead of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) meeting on Friday, capped investors’ appetite for risk.
Meanwhile, in a note today, Kenanga Research said the trade spat had caused the overall technical outlook to remain bearish as technical indicators were in negative mode.
“The index might fall lower to supports at 1,700-point and possibly 1,680-point further below, while a positive change in events, however, may see the index rally back up to the between 1,750 and 1,790-levels,” it said.
Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 649 to 171, while 316 counters remained unchanged, 782 untraded and 35 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.23 billion shares worth RM1.07 billion.
For heavyweights, Tenaga fell 32 sen to RM13.94, Hong Leong Bank erased 80 sen to RM17.66, Telekon slipped 39 sen to RM3.24, Public Bank went down 32 sen to RM22.46, Axiata lost 12 sen to RM4.25 and Hong Leong Financial was 72 sen down at RM17.60.
Among actives, MyEG trimmed 1.5 sen to 98.5 sen, Sapura Energy shed two sen to 60.5 sen, Hubline reduced half-a-sen to 7.5 sen, while GSB gained half-a-sen to 23.5 sen and MLab flat at 5.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index dipped 130.37 points to 11,956.12, the FBMT100 Index slumped 125.64 points to 11,743.37, the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 142.97 points to 12,040.99, the FBM70 was 146.07 points lower at 14,560.34 and the FBM Ace Index eased 78.45 points to 5,188.50.
Sectorwise, the Finance Index retreated 199.23 points to 16,737.27, the Industrial Index lost 27.32 points to 3,119.06 and the Plantation Index slid 26.03 points to 7,546.62.
