Selangor Journal
— Picture by BERNAMA

Bursa Malaysia dragged lower by extension of lockdown

KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — Bursa Malaysia opened the new week in negative territory as sentiment was affected by the extension of the movement control order 3.0 (MCO 3.0)

At 9.05am, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slid 7.88 points to 1,551.80 from Friday’s close of 1,559.68.

The market bellwether opened 2.22 of-a-point lower at 1,557.46.

The broader market saw losers outpacing gainers 328 to 99, while 241 counters were unchanged, 1,569 untraded and 42 others suspended.

Turnover stood at 302.25 million units valued at RM126.49 million.

Malacca Securities said the local bourse may see another round of pullback following the extension of the nationwide lockdown as Covid-19 cases remained above the 4,000-mark.

Meanwhile, investors may be keeping an eye on any announcement of assistance schemes from the government as well as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting scheduled for July 1, 2021.

“With the lockdown extension, traders may focus on sectors that will benefit from the current situation such as packaging as well as transportation and logistics.

“Meanwhile, tracking the Nasdaq move last week, buying interest may be seen in selected technology stocks on the local front. Energy stocks could see potential trading interest amid the firm Brent oil price that is holding above US$75 (a barrel),” it said in a note today.

On Friday, the US stock markets rebounded as the Dow gained 1.0 per cent after US President Joe Biden struck a US$579 billion infrastructure plan with a bipartisan group of senators, while the final reading of the first quarter 2021 Gross Domestic Product was unchanged at +6.4 per cent year-on-year.

Among the heavyweights, PetChem lost 10 sen to RM7.90, Public Bank was three sen lower at RM4.16, CIMB dipped six sen to RM4.63 and MR DIY declined seven sen to RM3.63.

Of the actives, Serba Dinamik shed 5.5 sen to 35.5 sen, AirAsia was flat at eight sen and Boustead eased 3.5 sen to 72.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 54.49 points weaker at 11,279.91, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 53.87 points to 10,991.23, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 55.35 points to 12,330.41.

The FBM ACE slipped 43.37 points to 7,178.43 and the FBM 70 eased 63.70 points to 14,555.83.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gave up 57.72 points to 15,221.99, while the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.38 points easier at 186.60, and the Plantation Index dropped 23.62 points to 6,498.78.

— Bernama

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