Bursa Malaysia ends lower on subdued sentiment

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 — Bursa Malaysia finished lower today on subdued sentiments as weak export data from China, the country’s biggest trading partner, signalled weakness for the broader Asian economy.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.73 points to 1,562.71 from Friday’s close of 1,568.44.

The barometer index opened 2.26 points lower at 1,566.18 and moved between 1,560.2 and 1,567.78 throughout the day.

A dealer said the softer export data had also offset the positive Wall Street clues following solid US jobs print.

“Investor sentiment was hit after data projected that China exports in November shrank for the fourth straight month, implying that the trade war with the United States was taking a toll on the world’s second-largest economy,” he said.

On the local bourse, heavyweight Maybank added six sen to RM8.56.

TNB lost 20 sen to RM13.22, Public Bank fell 14 sen to RM19.02, Petronas Chemicals shed five sen to RM7.05 and CIMB eased two sen to RM5.18.

Of the actives, Tiger Synergy added two sen to 11 sen, TDM gained three sen to 30.5 sen and PUC earned 1.5 sen to five sen.

Sanichi slipped one sen to five sen and Bumi Armada lost 1.5 sen to 46 sen.

On the broader market, losers edged gainers 462 to 406, with 359 counters unchanged, 749 untraded and 30 others suspended.

Volume rose to 2.61 billion units worth RM1.62 billion from 2.49 billion units worth RM1.54 billion on Friday.

The FBM Emas Index dipped 24.33 points to 11,109.24, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 29.43 points to 10,910.27 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 24.07 points to 11,699.9.

The FBM Ace edged up 2.24 points to 4,886.57 and the FBM 70 climbed 6.20 points to 13,855.28.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products & Services Index slipped 0.13 of-a-point to 149.89 and the Financial Services Index declined 18.64 points to 15,203.57 while the Plantation Index surged 133.96 points to 7,495.27.

Main Market volume rose to 1.80 billion shares worth RM1.43 billion from Friday’s 1.62 billion shares worth RM1.33 billion.

Warrants turnover went down to 224.28 million units valued at RM38.14 million from 295.02 million units valued at RM55.38 million.

Volume on the ACE Market expanded to 581.31 million shares worth RM154.49 million from 572.69 million units worth RM154.09 million previously.

Consumer products and services accounted for 228.73 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (269.59 million), construction (153.79 million), technology (123.01 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (76.95 million), property (184.93 million), plantations (247.84 million), REITs (6.37 million), closed/fund (59,300), energy (425.57 million), healthcare (12.57 million), telecommunications and media (32.36 million), transportation and logistics (33.37 million), and utilities (14.17 million). — Bernama