Bursa shares end lower on lacklustre trade

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended the day lower across the board as the market entered into a consolidation phase due mainly to external economic conditions, dealers said.

At 5pm, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) eased 0.69 of a point to 1,078.71, dragged down by losses mostly in Maybank.

The market was range-bound the whole day, moving between 1,075.06 and 1,083.25 after losses being capped by mild buying interest particularly in Bumiputra-Commerce and Sime Darby, dealers said.

The main benchmark index was 1.48 points higher at 1,080.88 at the opening bell.

At the close, however, the Plantation Index improved 22.7 points to 5,407.62, the Finance Index increased 23.5 points to 8,588.12 and the Industrial Index rose 17.55 points to 2,388.94.

The FBMEmas Index eased 0.78 of a point to 7,221.87, the FBM2BRD Index dropped 51.53 points to 4,689.75, the FBM30 Index jumped 38.94 points to 6,974.97 while the FBMMesdaq Index lost 31.86 points to 3,998.98.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by 406 to 204 while 221 counters closed unchanged, 397 untraded and 34 suspended.

Total volume rose to 906.716 million shares valued at RM1.158 billion versus Wednesday’s 826.07 million shares worth RM885.764 million.

The Main Board volume rose to 803.259 million units worth RM1.129 billion from 724.703 million shares valued at RM853.814 million previously.

Turnover on the Second Board decreased to 52.452 million shares valued at RM17.781 million from 56.172 million units worth RM20.983 million.

In Mesdaq, turnover increased to 28.62 milliom shares worth RM4.427 million from 25.998 shares valued at RM4.852 million Wednesday.

Warrants also improved to 12.748 million units worth RM2.144 million compared to Wednesday’s close of 10.198 million units valued at RM1.812 million.

Among the actives, KNM Group declined 4.5 sen to 77.5 sen, UEM Land Holdings shed 10 sen to RM1.38 and Sino Hua-An International declined three sen to 49 sen.

Heavyweight Sime Darby rose 20 sen to RM7.25 while Maybank lost 15 sen to RM5.70 and Tenaga eased five sen to RM7.60. Bumiputra-Commerce gained 45 sen to RM9.55 and IOI Corporation added four sen to RM4.74.

On a sectoral basis, consumer products accounted for 42.826 million shares traded on the Main Board, industrial products 190.029 million, construction 49.349 million, trade/services 234.618 million, technology 8.463 million, infrastructure 16.325 million, finance 56.782 million, hotels 6.857 million, properties 178.225 million, plantations 17.9 million, mining 10,000, REITs 1.839 million and closed/fund 35,200.