Bursa lower in early trade

KUALA LUMPUR (June 30): Bursa Malaysia was lower in early trade today due to prevalent risk-off mode as investors were cautious about Covid-19 developments in the country.

The downtrend can be seen across sectors except for the financial, construction and industrial products and services segments, which recorded marginal gains.

At 9.09am, the benchmark FBM KLCI was 0.86 of a point easier at 1,547.45 from yesterday’s close at 1,548.31.

The market bellwether opened 1.01 points lower at 1,547.30.

On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 184 to 167, while 244 counters were unchanged, 1,621 untraded and 61 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 307.35 million units worth RM112.54 million.

In a note today, Malacca Securities said the local bourse might not be able to sustain its upward momentum seen yesterday as the daily new Covid-19 tally still ranged between 5,000 and 7,000 cases.

The number of new Covid-19 cases breached the 6,000 mark yesterday.

“For now, we believe the uptrend in technology counters on the local front remains intact following overnight gains on the Nasdaq.

“Additionally, the transportation and logistics sector should continue to do well following the recent selldown and, with the Covid-19 Delta variant being a concern, trading interest might build up on glove stocks,” it said.

Heavyweights IHH Healthcare Bhd, Digi.Com Bhd and Sime Darby Plantation Bhd dropped three sen each to RM5.60, RM4.25 and RM4.08 respectively, while Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) was eight sen weaker at RM18.76 and Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag) lost 14 sen to RM18.84.

Conversely, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd (HLFG) surged 42 sen to RM18.22, while Public Bank Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) rose two sen to RM4.17, RM8.15 and RM9.86 respectively.

Of the actives, OCR Group Bhd increased three sen to 23.5 sen, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd declined half a sen to 31.5 sen and Tanco Holdings Bhd was flat at 15 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gave up 2.77 points to 11,246.89, the FBMT 100 Index increased 2.72 points to 10,966.52 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 8.95 points to 12,298.98.

The FBM ACE reduced 4.34 points to 7,073.10 and the FBM 70 added 9.48 points to 14,546.94.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index recovered 19.55 points to 15,171.01, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 0.02 of a point higher at 187.35, and the Plantation Index decreased 12.97 points to 6,456.88.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets