FBM KLCI closes flat amid mixed regional performance on China property worries

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia’s FBM KLCI pared earlier losses and eked out marginal gains at the close today on the back of financial counters amid a mixed regional performance dampened by worries over China’s property sector.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) added 0.09 of a point to 1,455.04 from 1,454.95 at Friday’s close. After opening 1.23 points weaker at 1,453.72, the barometer index moved between 1,451.37 and 1,455.56 throughout the session.

On the broader market, decliners thumped gainers by 609 to 295, with 445 counters unchanged and 974 untraded. Turnover increased to 2.80 billion units worth RM1.64 billion against Friday’s 2.55 billion units worth RM1.85 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng reckons some bargain-hunting might emerge going forward due to the cheap valuations of the benchmark. Thus, he expects the FBM KLCI to trend sideways with an upside bias within the range of 1,445-1,465 for the week.

“However, we believe investors may refrain from making substantial moves due to the lack of compelling buying incentives amid the prevailing jittery market sentiment caused by heightened global market risks and volatility,” he told BK.

Regionally, stock indices closed with mixed results on worries over China’s property sector and ahead of the upcoming release of the US consumer price index (CPI) for August on Wednesday and the country’s retail sales data on Thursday.

China is also due to unveil industrial output and retail sales data this week.

“While China’s equities exhibited some positivity with signs of deflationary pressure easing, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong experienced losses, primarily attributed to investor unease about the property sector crisis there,” he noted.

Bursa heavyweight counters Maybank, CIMB Bank, Hong Leong Bank and IHH gained two sen each to RM9.16, RM5.71, RM19.82 and RM5.92, respectively, while Hong Leong Financial Group was one sen higher at RM18.00.

Of the actives, KNM shed one sen to 11 sen and DGB added half a sen to one sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index erased 3.09 points to 10,723.83, the FBM Emas Shariah Index trimmed 3.37 points to 10,884.13 and the FBM ACE Index dipped 27.76 points to 5,161.07.

The FBMT100 Index ticked up 0.66 of a point to 10,402.64 and the FBM 70 Index recovered 1.03 points to 14,136.75.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 15.94 points to 16,442.62, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.06 of a point to 172.68 and the Energy Index dropped 4.10 points to 851.37.

The Plantation Index declined 6.21 points to 6,857.94. – BK