Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices finished mixed as investors were closely scrutinising economic data from China and Japan while awaiting the release of the US Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data later today.
“China’s markets are closed for the Golden Week holiday. Hong Kong and India’s markets are also closed for holidays,” he told Bernama.
Thong expects the market to remain cautious due to external factors such as the unpredictability of global central banks’ monetary policies and the presence of inflationary pressures.
“Despite this caution, it’s noteworthy that the benchmark index currently sits in an oversold position, leaving open potential bargain-hunting activities.
“We anticipate the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) to trend within the range of 1,415-1,430 for the week with immediate support at 1,415 and resistance at 1,460,” he said.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI dropped 5.41 points to 1,418.76 from last Friday’s close at 1,424.17.
The barometer index opened 0.10 points easier at 1,424.07 and moved up to 1,428.04 during the day.
On the broader market, decliners trumped gainers 632 to 285, while 427 counters were unchanged, 951 untraded and eight others suspended.
Turnover decreased to 3.01 billion units worth RM1.8 billion from 3.03 billion units worth RM2.43 billion on Friday.
At the close, heavyweights Maybank fell four sen to RM8.75, CIMB declined three sen to RM5.40, Tenaga Nasional slipped nine sen to RM9.90, Petronas Chemicals slid 12 sen to RM7.07, while Public Bank was unchanged at RM4.06.
Of the actives, KNM added 1.5 sen to 14 sen, Widad was flat at 51 sen, Evergreen Max Cash lost one sen to 41.5 sen, Fintec fell 0.5 sen to 0.5 sen and UEM Sunrise shed 3.5 sen to 81 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined by 43.36 points to 10,538.9, the FBMT 100 Index was 40.15 points weaker at 10,204.35 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index went down 51.38 points to 10,823.14.
The FBM ACE Index weakened by 29.13 points to 5,146.11 and the FBM 70 Index narrowed by 61.02 points to 14,132.25.
Sector-wise, the plantation index eased 27.21 points to 6,853.14, the industrial products and services index shrank by 1.06 points to 170.43 and the energy index fell 5.16 points to 888.58. The financial services index eased 42.06 points to 15,876.11.
The Main Market volume eased to 1.75 billion units worth RM1.51 billion from 1.83 billion units worth RM2.1 billion on Friday.
Warrants turnover decreased to 201.25 million units valued at RM19.08 million against 351.67 million units valued at RM44.33 million previously.
The ACE Market volume stood at 1.02 billion shares worth RM266.77 million from 845.43 million shares worth RM280.84 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 278.97 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (359.53 million); construction (121.77 million); technology (84.74 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (74.78 million); property (272.15 million); plantation (71.66 million); REITs (11.01 million), closed/fund (86,100); energy (306.09 million); healthcare (50.91 million); telecommunications and media (35.44 million); transportation and logistics (55.34 million) and utilities (36.88 million).