KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 ― Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session in negative territory in tandem with the weaker regional market performance following a selldown of global equities overnight, said an analyst.
At lunch break, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shrank 10.40 points to 1,414.79 from yesterday’s close of 1,425.19.
The barometer index opened 3.22 points weaker at 1,421.97 and moved between 1,413.80 and 1,422.48 throughout the midday session.
The market breadth was negative with decliners thumping gainers 446 to 272, while 352 counters were unchanged, 1,224 untraded and 25 others suspended.
Turnover stood at 1.51 billion units valued at RM775.44 million.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said Wall Street slumped after a decent opening as weak earnings from First Republic Bank that saw its deposits declined by 40 per cent for the first quarter of 2023 reignited concerns over the broader sector.
He said the weak market sentiment was also dragged by the US 10-year yield, which eased to the 3.40 per cent level as the outlook for the US economy does not look promising.
“Meanwhile, concerns over the US banking sector spooked crude oil prices as well, with the Brent crude dropping to below US$81 per barrel, thus may see some headwinds for the oil and gas counters today,” he told Bernama.
Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (HLIB) said ahead of another long weekend (May 1: Labour Day) and overnight Dow’s slide, FBM KLCI is likely to consolidate further in the absence of fresh leads.
“Key supports are pegged at 1,391-1,400 while resistances are situated near the 1,437-1,454 levels,” the research house said in a research note today.
Among the heavyweight counters, Maybank eased seven sen to RM8.58, Public Bank lost four sen to RM3.89, CIMB slipped 11 sen to RM5.05 and and CelcomDigi fell three sen to RM4.38.
Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM7.20.
As for the actives, Fitters Diversified and Vinvest added half sen each to 5.5 sen and 20.5 sen, Star Media bagged 11 sen to 62 sen and Computer Forms rose one sen to 27.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index narrowed to 69.74 points to 10,393.36, the FBMT 100 Index dropped 71.23 points to 10,078.22 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 52.77 points to 10,753.76.
The FBM ACE Index was 0.34 of a point higher at 5,319.98 and the FBM 70 index slipped 83.71 points to 13,545.90.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index shaved 0.21 of a point to 171.75, the Financial Services Index dipped 135.85 points to 15,487.99 and the Plantation Index went down 45.07 points to 6,883.54. ― Bernama