Bursa Malaysia falls 1.26 per cent as selling pressure persists
Declining counters outnumbered gainers 750 to 342, while trading value eased to RM2.7 billion.
Malaysia’s benchmark share index finished at 1,630.36 on Oct 1, losing 20.81 points amid selling pressure and a cautious, mixed overnight performance on Wall Street. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) recorded a decline of 1.26 per cent against Wednesday’s closing level of 1,651.17.
Trading volume dropped to 3.1 billion units from Wednesday’s 3.63 billion units. The value traded was RM2.7 billion, compared with RM3.62 billion previously. There were 750 declining counters and 342 advancing counters; another 495 were unchanged.
Mohd Sedek Jantan, IPPFA Sdn Bhd director of investment strategy and country economist, attributed the cautious sentiment to weaker domestic manufacturing activity and continuing foreign selling. He said global portfolio rotation also weighed on the index, while demand from domestic institutions helped counter foreign outflows.
The S&P Global Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registered 49.9 in September, down from August’s 50.2 and below the neutral threshold of 50.0. This was its first decline in four months. The corresponding ASEAN manufacturing reading eased to 52.1 from 52.3.
Heavyweight shares weakened, with CIMB ending at RM7.69 after losing 10 sen and IHH Healthcare closing at RM7.70 following a 13 sen fall. Maybank’s four sen decline took it to RM9.95, while Public Bank finished three sen lower at RM4.67.
Among other counters, ACE Market newcomer GB Bond closed at 20.5 sen, down 4.5 sen. Malaysian Pacific Industries gained 72 sen to finish at RM41.12, whereas Kuala Lumpur Kepong ended at RM21.42 after a 78 sen loss.
