Broadly lower on profit-taking

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended broadly lower yesterday on profit-taking in both heavyweights and lower liners.



Dealers said this was due mainly to the fall in US stocks after fresh data showed American consumer confidence fell unexpectedly in September.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) lost 6.13 points to 1,202.08 despite opening 0.09 point higher at 1,208.3.

SJ Securities analyst Phua Kwee Hock said the market was still in a correction mode and was expected to remain subdued ahead of the US unemployment data tomorrow.

Nevertheless, positive sentiment in local politics would probably lend a boost to the stock market.

"It looks like Barisan Nasional is riding on a popularity wave in the Bagan Pinang by-election and this should be good for market sentiment," Phua said.

He expected the FBMKLCI's support level to be around 1,197-1,193 and resistance at 1,206. The market should not go any lower than 1,184, he said.

The FBMEmas dropped 39.85 points to 8,097.87, the FBM Top 100 decreased 36.77 points to 7,890.77, the FBM70 went down 23.85 points to 8,025.1 and the FBM ACE Index shed 2.77 points to 4,067.67. The Technology Index edged down 0.12 point to 16.24, the Finance Index declined 28.63 points to 9,945.48, the Plantation Index dipped 20.09 points to 5,890.04 and the Industrial Index decreased 21.31 points at 2,627.11.

Losers led gainers by 466 to 197 while 213 counters were unchanged and 382 untraded.

Turnover rose to 695.254 million shares worth RM1.051 billion from 594.587 million shares worth RM720.739 million.

The top losers included British American Tobacco which fell 90 sen to RM44.04, PPB that went down 54 sen to RM15.40 and Nestle that decreased 30 sen to RM34.50.

Leading the actives, TA Enterprise dropped 6 sen to RM1.42, KNM shed 1.5 sen to 74.5 sen and HLSCorp declined 7 sen to 32.5 sen.

Among heavyweights, Sime Darby and Maybank fell 3 sen each to RM8.50 and RM6.65, while CIMB Group and Axiata both lost 4 sen to RM11.10 and RM3.10 respectively.

Tenaga Nasional shaved off 2 sen to RM8.19 and Genting shed 10 sen to RM6.86.

FBM KLCI futures ended easier on the back of a similar trend in the cash market. The September 2009 contract fell 5.5 points to 1,202, October 2009 and December 2009 went down 3 points each to 1,206 and 1,205.5 respectively and March 2010 was 2 points lower at 1,204. - Bernama