BURSA MALAYSIA REVERSES EARLIER GAINS ON LATE SELLING

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia reversed earlier gains at the close today, weighed down by late selling in selected blue chips, mainly the utilities and banking stocks, said an analyst. 

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.07 per cent or 1.19 points to 1,606.13 from last Friday’s close of 1,607.32.

The FBM KLCI opened 2.07 points higher at 1,609.39, and subsequently moved between 1,615.09 and 1,606.13 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 766 to 480, while 455 counters were unchanged, 699 untraded and six others suspended.

Turnover rose to 5.92 billion units worth RM4.14 billion from Friday's 5.64 billion units worth RM3.92 billion.

In a note, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said he remained cautiously optimistic about the local stock market’s performance on the back of attractive valuations and rising trading volumes, while staying mindful of potential profit-taking activities.

“We reckon that today's selling offers an opportunity for investors to accumulate stocks at lower prices, hence, we expect the FBM KLCI to stage a rebound and hover within the 1,605-1,625 range for the week,” he told Bernama. 

Meanwhile, key regional indices closed mostly higher due to bargain-hunting activities following yesterday's sell-offs.

Sentiments were positive with strong buying in the tech sector, particularly the data centre and artificial intelligence (AI)-related counters as well as computing stocks.

Of the heavyweights, YTL Corporation eased 16 sen to RM3.50, YTL Power International (YTLPower) fell 21 sen to RM5.07, Axiata Group shed 4.0 sen to RM2.75, Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) slid 28 sen to RM20.22 and CIMB declined 9.0 sen to RM6.83. 

KLK and YTLPower were also among the top losers -- a list which included PIE Industrial which dipped 33 sen to RM6.75, Chin Hinn which trimmed 24 sen to RM3.34, and Nestle and Dutch Lady which weakened 20 sen each to RM124.00 and RM37.60, respectively. 

Of the most active, Divfex rose 17 sen to 51.5 sen, Ingenieur added half-a-sen to 7.0 sen and both K-One and MYEG increased by 2.0 sen to 29 sen and RM1.07, respectively, while JCY shaved 6.5 sen to 83 sen and Top Glove was flat at RM1.17.  

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index depreciated by 21.31 points to 12,365.14, the FBMT 100 Index reduced 14.66 points to 11,933.12, the FBM 70 Index dropped 45.60 points to 18,105.21 and the FBM ACE Index fell 53.21 points to 5,849.27, while the FBM Emas Shariah Index widened 11.89 points to 12,739.37.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slid 59.43 points to 17,519.70 and the Industrial Products and Services Index declined 0.72 of-a-point to 199.67, while the Energy Index edged up 0.44 of-a-point to 988.34 and the Plantation Index improved by 21.97 points to 7,030.47.

The Main Market volume expanded to 3.41 billion units valued at RM3.58 billion from 3.18 billion units worth RM3.36 billion last Friday.

Warrants turnover advanced to 1.27 billion units worth RM186.09 million compared with 1.07 billion units valued at RM121.96 million previously.

The ACE Market volume narrowed to 1.24 billion shares valued at RM379.17 million against last Friday's close of 1.37 billion shares worth RM440.72 million.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 470.77 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.0 billion), construction (280.38 million), technology (494.96 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (97.14 million), property (364.15 million), plantation (35.53 million), REITs (16.76 million), closed/fund (22,100), energy (211.98 million), healthcare (152.49 million), telecommunications and media (67.27 million), transportation and logistics (72.54 million), utilities (136.50 million), and business trusts (1.66 million).

-- BERNAMA