The local bourse spent the day moving cautiously within a tight range ahead of the release of the US jobs data later today.
At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shaved off 0.77 of a point to 1,491.18 from yesterday’s close of 1,491.95.
The barometer index opened 1.17 points better at 1,493.12, and subsequently moved between 1,489.23 and 1,498.61 throughout the trading session.
On the broader market, decliners outpaced advancers 474 to 316, while 420 counters were unchanged, 1,079 were not traded, and 32 others were suspended.
Total turnover fell to 2.18 billion units worth RM1.57 billion from 2.44 billion units worth RM2.02 billion yesterday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI closed in the negative territory after a roller coaster trading session.
Regionally, key indices ended broadly lower as investors were wary ahead of US jobs report for August which may stir expectations for another sharp Federal Reserve interest rate hike.
Meanwhile, he noted that the weaker crude oil and commodity prices also took a toll on energy and commodity-related shares and weighed down on market sentiment.
“As for the local bourse, we believe bargain hunting will emerge due to cheap valuations despite the heightened volatility of regional markets. As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to move within the 1,490 to 1,510 range next week, with immediate resistance at 1,530 and support at 1,470,” he told Bernama.
Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 eased 0.04% to 27,650.84, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.74% to 19,452.09, Singapore’s Straits Times index shed 0.43% to 3,210.37, and South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.26% to 2,409.41.
Back home, heavyweights Maybank and CIMB added two sen each to RM8.93 and RM5.50 respectively, Public Bank improved one sen to RM4.67, Petronas Chemicals slid one sen to RM8.77, and IHH Healthcare shed three sen to RM6.15.
Of the actives, ACE Market debutant SNS Network gained 1.5 sen to 26.5 sen, Metronic and South Malaysia edged up half-a-sen each to eight sen and 51.5 sen respectively, Dagang NeXchange trimmed one sen to 81 sen, while Jade Marvel shed 4.5 sen to 26.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM emas index lost 5.70 points to 10,555.53, the FBMT 100 index slid 4.77 points to 10,309.77, the FBM 70 shrank 3.45 points to 12,561.15, the FBM ACE slipped 18.36 points to 4,806.68, and the FBM emas shariah index declined 14.98 points to 10,599.63.
Sector-wise, the plantation index was 38.55 points lower at 6,957.84, the industrial products and services index eased 0.36 of a point to 180.22, the energy index shed 14.26 points to 697.07, while the financial services index rose 20.64 points to 16,764.01.
The Main Market volume fell to 1.16 billion shares worth RM1.25 billion from 1.52 billion shares worth RM1.73 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover dwindled to 197.21 million units valued at RM32.40 million from 333.80 million units valued at RM50.75 million yesterday.
The ACE Market volume increased to 818.70 million shares worth RM291.65 million from 585.32 million shares worth RM243.51 million previously.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 143.27 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (345.93 million), construction (37.11 million), technology (167.27 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (47.84 million), property (136.28 million), plantation (23.09 million), REITs (4.53 million), closed/fund (2,900), energy (92.11 million), healthcare (103.84 million), telecommunications and media (10.76 million), transportation and logistics (35.99 million), and utilities (13.79 million).