Malaysian Stock Market Ends Easier

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 (Bernama) – The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) reversed Tuesday's gains to finish easier on Wednesday, as profit-taking capped the uptrend in the local market, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 6.74 points lower at 1,744.20, after moving between 1,744.09 and 1,749.83 throughout the day. The key index opened 4.06 points easier at 1,746.88 from Tuesday's close of 1,750.94. Losers led gainers 481 to 367, while 401 counters were unchanged, 575 untraded and 21 others suspended. Volume eased to 2.59 billion units valued at RM2.13 billion from 3.02 billion units worth RM2.66 billion on Tuesday. Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd Research Head Pong Teng Siew said the downside pressure on the benchmark index still persisted since morning on profit-taking in selected blue-chips and heavyweights, weighed by the decline in crude oil prices. "Oil prices declined on profit-taking, however, the international benchmark Brent crude oil remained at above US$63 per barrel," he told Bernama. Petronas Dagangan and PetGas, which were the top losers, fell 72 sen and 58 sen each to close at RM21.74 and RM17.06, respectively. Pong said the sentiment was also dampened by tension flared between Saudi Arabia and Iran after Saudi accused Iran of carrying out a missile strike on Riyadh (Saudi’s capital) on Sunday, claiming it constituted a possible “act of war”. But the missile was intercepted over northeast Riyadh. "We are taking a more cautious stance as we believe that the key index could consolidate further following its recent uptrend," he added. The FBM 70 was 14.39 points higher at 15,500.31, the FBM Ace added 12.83 points to 6,810.41, the FBM Emas Index fell 32.97 points to 12,580.04, the FBMT100 Index declined 32.29 points to 12,218.96, the FBM Emas Shariah Index contracted 9.16 points to 13,033.93. The Finance Index went down 109.31 points to 16,218.56, the Plantation Index slid 10.29 points to 8,000.91 and the Industrial Index fell 10.59 points to 3,182.37. -- BERNAMA