Malaysian Stock Market Closes Lower

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian stock market (Bursa Malaysia) finished lower Monday on lack of fresh catalysts, dealers said. At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 0.8 point, or 0.05 per cent, at 1,754.78 from 1,755.58 on Friday. The benchmark index opened 0.38 of-a-point easier at 1,755.22 after moving between 1,750.94 and 1,758.15 throughout the day. On the broader market, decliners surpassed gainers by 538 to 288, while 372 counters were unchanged, 638 untraded and 18 others suspended. Volume rose to 2.23 billion units worth RM1.74 billion from 2.02 billion units worth RM2.13 billion on Friday. “The market sentiment is partly dented by weaker factory orders in September,” said a dealer. According to IHS Markit, declining new orders had weighed down the Nikkei Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in September at 49.9 from 50.4 in August amid reports of weak demand from domestic and international sources. The fall in the PMI was mainly driven by reduced new business, which declined for the fifth successive month but on a positive note, firms continued to hire, with the rate of employment growth the second-fastest since October 2015. Of the heavyweights, TM lost 20 sen to RM6.30, Genting Malaysia fell eight sen to RM5.30, IHH Healthcare went down five sen to RM5.70 and Genting Bhd eased seven sen to RM9.48. Maybank gained two sen to RM9.55, Public Bank surged 14 sen to RM20.58 and Petronas Chemicals gained one sen to RM7.30. TNB was flat at RM14.32 and Sime Darby eased two sen to RM9. The FBM Emas Index fell 17.69 points to 12,513.6, FBMT 100 Index eased 14.3 points to 12,174.95, FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 33.79 points to 12,763.58, FBM 70 shed 50.39 points to 15,006.74 and the FBM Ace was 11.7 points lower at 6,557.16. Sector-wise, the Plantation Index eased 6.64 points to 7,865.32, Finance Index rose 45.47 points to 16,485.34 and Industrial Index slipped 7.25 points to 3,193.96. -- BERNAMA