Bursa Malaysia opens in the red

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia opened in the red as negative overnight performance on key global markets, coupled with the nationwide movement control order till end-March 2020 continue to pile pressure on market sentiment.

At 9.05am today, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 67.39 points to 1,213.24 from Monday’s close of 1,280.63, after opening 63.35 points lower at 1,217.28 this morning.

On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 600 to 27, with 78 counters unchanged, 1,311 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Turnover amounted to 291.03 million shares worth RM140.30 million.

In a note, Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd said selling activities persisted as Bursa Malaysia took a dive alongside with the rout across global equities that are still attempting to find a bottom, despite the firmer stimulus measure announced by the US Federal Reserve.

“The key index has broken successive support levels, the latest being the 1,300 level and this is continuing to leave the market is a dour mood with the psychological support at 1,200 points now coming into play.

“We think the negative overnight performance on key global markets, coupled with the nationwide movement control order till end-March 2020 will continue to pile pressure for further downside over the foreseeable future,“ it said.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 2,997.10 points, or 12.9 per cent, to settle at 20,188.52, which saw circuit breakers temporarily halt trading for 15 minutes, amid rising fears that fresh Federal Reserve stimulus would not be enough to combat the threat of lost jobs and wages from the COVID-19 outbreak.

The S&P 500 index declined 324.89 points, or 12 per cent, to end at 2,386.13 while the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 970.28 points, or 12.3 per cent, to finish at 6,904.59.

Closer to home, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed down 2.46 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.19 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 4.03 per cent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 9.7 per cent.

Among the heavyweights on Bursa Malaysia, Maybank declined 19 sen to RM7.10, Tenaga erased 42 sen to RM10.88, Public Bank lost 42 sen to RM14.08 and IHH declined 39 sen to RM4.61.

Of the actives, PriceWorth International and Trive Property were flat at one sen and half-a-sen, respectively, while Sapura Energy eased one sen to 8.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 525.09 points to 8,264.27, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 568.18 points to 8,942.15 and the FBM 70 gave up 875.76 points to 9,227.96.

The FBMT 100 Index contracted 522.19 points to 8,186.32 and the FBM Ace was 343.75 points weaker at 3,438.02.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index inched down 7.55 points to 96.13, the Plantation Index fell 249.81 points to 5,586.56 and the Financial Services Index reduced 646.97 points to 11,248.32. — Bernama

source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/bursa-malaysia-opens-in-the-red-KD2137628