KUALA LUMPUR (March 13): Bursa Malaysia snapped its four-day winning streak to close lower on Wednesday, driven by continuous profit taking in heavyweights led by plantation stocks, dealers said.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 16.43 points or 1.05% to 1,538.13 from Tuesday's close of 1,554.56.

The benchmark index, which opened 11.05 points weaker at 1,543.51, moved between 1,536.76 and 1,544.74 throughout the day.

On the broader market, however, gainers beat decliners 519 to 478, while 516 counters were unchanged, 801 untraded and 12 others suspended.

Turnover fell to 4.18 billion units worth RM2.73 billion from 4.28 billion units worth RM2.93 billion on Tuesday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices saw gains due to a substantial influx of global funds, while investors await US inflation data which is poised to influence the timing of the Federal Reserve's rate cut.

“With the upswing in investor sentiment, buying is expected, supported by consistent and strong inflow of foreign funds into the region, while the increasing daily trading volume signifies higher appetite for the market.

“As a result, we are adjusting our weekly FBM KLCI target range upwards to 1,540-1,560, with immediate resistance at 1,560 and support at 1,520,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank Bhd rose 10 sen to RM9.62, Public Bank Bhd added a sen to RM4.22, Tenaga Nasional Bhd went up six sen to RM11.54 while CIMB Group Holdings Bhd slipped two sen to RM6.70 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd declined 11 sen to RM6.81.

As for the actives, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd and Borneo Oil Bhd were flat at 1.5 sen and one sen respectively, Pan Malaysia Holdings Bhd shed 2.5 sen to 20 sen while Eversendai Corp Bhd climbed 18.5 sen to 39 sen.

Meanwhile in a filing on Wednesday, Bursa Malaysia has announced the change of name of Comintel Corp Bhd to Binastra Corp Bhd effective 9am on Friday (March 15).

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index was 68.26 points weaker at 11,443.18, the FBMT 100 Index fell 76.47 points to 11,105.22, the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 36.15 points to 11,495.24, the FBM 70 Index garnered 66.62 points to 15,549.51, and the FBM ACE Index trimmed 15.59 points to 4,706.42. 

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dropped 207.45 points to 17,235.57, the Plantation Index dipped 81.4 points to 7,275.2, the Energy Index advanced 9.46 points to 906.5 and the Industrial Products and Services Index ticked down 0.3 of a point to 175.69. 

The Main Market volume expanded to 2.91 billion units valued at RM2.46 billion from 2.65 billion units valued at RM2.65 billion on Tuesday.

Warrant turnover narrowed to 707.51 million units worth RM85.01 million from 1.08 billion units worth RM126.67 million the previous day.  

Meanwhile, the ACE Market volume advanced to 549.03 million shares worth RM183.93 million from 526.58 million shares worth RM148.18 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 619.52 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (467.15 million); construction (394.94 million); technology (599.84 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (137.43 million); property (371.77 million); plantation (47.57 million); REITs (11.68 million), closed/fund (114,900); energy (92.94 million); healthcare (43.71 million); telecommunications and media (20.98 million); transportation and logistics (35.89 million); and utilities (70.05 million).