BURSA MALAYSIA CONTINUES SLIDE AS PROFIT-TAKING PERSISTS 

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed lower for the sixth consecutive day today in a tight trading range as investors continued to take profit and were reluctant to make significant moves following the technology sell-off on Wall Street last Friday, said an analyst. 

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was marginally lower by 0.05 per cent or 0.71 of-a-point to 1,589.66 from last Friday’s close of 1,590.37.

The benchmark index opened 0.50 of-a-point weaker at 1,589.87 and moved between 1,582.78 and 1,594.09 throughout the trading session.

The market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 914 to 302, with 447 counters unchanged, 774 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Turnover decreased to 5.01 billion units worth RM3.78 billion from last Friday's 5.83 billion units worth RM6.06 billion.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors head of investment research Mohd Sedek Jantan said the healthcare and technology sectors were among the biggest decliners today. 

He said the technology sector dropped significantly due to concerns that technology stocks might start lagging.

Meanwhile, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the investors are focusing on this week's key US inflation data for clues on interest rates. 

The US personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, is due out this Friday.

"As for the local bourse, we remain cautiously optimistic about the local equity market, driven by enticing valuations and increasing trading volume. 

"However, uncertainties and increasing global volatility will also significantly influence the market's direction," he told Bernama.

Hence, Thong expects the benchmark index to maintain its sideways pattern with an upward bias for the week.

He foresees further upward potential if the benchmark index breaks through the 1,600 resistance and holds it for an extended period. 

"We anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,590-1,610 for the week," he added. 

Of the heavyweights, Maybank added two sen to RM9.88, Public Bank gained three sen to RM4.03 and IHH Healthcare climbed 12 sen to RM6.30.

Meanwhile, CIMB declined 11 sen to RM6.68 and Tenaga Nasional was flat at RM13.72. 

Among the most active counters, MY E.G. slid 1.5 sen to 99.5 sen, Techbase Industries rose three sen to 23.5 sen, and K-One inched up half-a-sen to 30 sen, but Ingenieur Gudang was flat at 6.5 sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 50.79 points to 12,194.04, the FBMT 100 Index fell 44.36 points to 11,771.62, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 34.03 points to 12,545.14, the FBM 70 Index tumbled 210.61 points to 17,716.50, and the FBM ACE Index dropped 75.04 points to 5,714.01.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index shed 62.12 points to 17,354.41, the Plantation Index inched down 3.86 points to 7,024.52, and the Energy Index slid 10.86 points to 952.14. 

Meanwhile, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.66 of-a-point to 198.45.

The Main Market volume declined to 2.83 billion units valued at RM3.31 billion from 3.29 billion units valued at RM5.46 billion last Friday. 

Warrants turnover dipped to 1.25 billion units worth RM160.70 million compared with 1.46 billion units worth RM177.12 million previously. 

The ACE Market volume tumbled to 918.10 million shares valued at RM305.71 million against 1.08 billion shares valued at RM419.40 million last Friday. 

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 485.26 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (701.26 million), construction (310.76 million), technology (411.41 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (105.49 million), property (258.93 million), plantation (18.79 million), REITs (19.21 million), closed/fund (15,300), energy (158.54 million), healthcare (113.33 million), telecommunications and media (60.51 million), transportation and logistics (81.43 million), utilities (100.07 million), and business trusts (286,100).

-- BERNAMA