KUALA LUMPUR (April 21): Bursa Malaysia ended the morning trading session lower, in sync with the performance of regional bourses.
At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI had decreased 6.27 points to 1,601.30 from yesterday’s close at 1,607.57.
The market bellwether opened 2.7 points lower at 1,604.87, and fluctuated between 1,598.94 and 1,605.73 throughout the session.
The overall market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 542 to 416, while 418 counters were unchanged, 790 untraded and seven others suspended.
Total volume stood at 5.62 billion shares worth RM2.58 billion.
US stock markets extended their losses yesterday as the Dow fell 0.8% amid rising Covid-19 cases, overshadowing the recent strong batch of corporate earnings.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.77% to 28,584.17, Singapore’s Straits Times Index trimmed 1.26% to 3,151.92 and South Korea’s KOSPI declined 1.6% to 3,169.08.
Back home, most of the glove counters were in positive territory.
Heavyweights Top Glove Corp Bhd rose eight sen to RM5.48, Supermax Corp Bhd added 16 sen to RM5.56 and Hartalega Holdings Bhd was 12 sen better at RM9.99.
Meanwhile, telecommunications heavyweights Axiata Group Bhd was 13 sen weaker at RM3.87, Maxis Bhd lost eight sen to RM4.70, Digi.Com Bhd fell five sen to RM4.20 and Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) was 11 sen lower at RM5.83.
Among the active counters, Key Asic Bhd expanded five sen to 25.5 sen, UCrest Bhd slashed 3.5 sen to 56 sen, SC Estate Builder Bhd lost two sen to 10.5 sen and Censof Holdings Bhd gained 1.5 sen to 49.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index reduced 40.14 points to 11,784.99, the FBMT 100 trimmed 40.35 points to 11,446.20, and the FBM 70 eased 37.64 points to 15,565.28.
The FBM Emas Shariah edged down 41.38 points to 13,190.70, and the FBM ACE was 5.14 points lower at 8,587.52.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index declined 59.93 points to 6,820.10, the Financial Services Index softened 39.96 points to 15,053.19, and the Industrial Products and Services Index was 10.56 points higher at 195.64.
