Bursa Malaysia Biz >>> Share prices end lower on profit-taking

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended lower today on profit-taking as investors cashed in on heavyweights following the downtrend in the US market, said dealers.

At close, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index shed 11.44 points to 1,205.95 after opening 0.57 of a point easier at 1,216.82.

SJ Securities analyst Phua Kwee Hock said the market was undergoing a small correction and did not expect it to fall below 1,184 level.

“The market may see a support level at 1,193 and a resistance level at 1,212. This profit-taking is more of a global thing,” he said.

Phua said the local market tracks the US market which went on a selling mode recently when the US Federal Reserve made a cautious stance on the country’s economic recovery.
“Because of that cautious note by the Federal Reserve, investors took it as a hint and factored it in their expectations,” he said.

Phua said the market would remain soft until middle of October ahead of the 2010 Budget to be tabled by the government on Oct 23.

The FBMEmas fell 75.97 points to 8,118.06, the FBM Top 100 slid 76.92 points to 7,908.92, the FBM70 lost 85.27 points to 8,015.06 and the FBM ACE Index dwindled 50.17 points to 4,023.91.

The Technology Index shed 0.05 of a point to 16.28, the Finance Index slipped 67.67 points to 9,934.54, the Plantation Index slid 83.85 points to 5,909.14 and the Industrial Index was 21.8 points lower at 2,645.29.

Losers led gainers 469 to 145 with 183 counters unchanged and 461 untraded.

Turnover was lower at 454.117 million shares worth RM605.403 million from 688.772 million shares worth RM945.180 million on Friday.

Top losers included KLK, which shed 24 sen to RM13.74, LMCement lost 23 sen to RM6.05 and SP Setia fell 20 sen to RM4.

Among actives, KNM lost 2.5 sen to 76 sen, SAAG slipped half a sen to 23 sen while Jadi Imaging gained half a sen to 21 sen.

Losers among the heavyweights included plantation companies such as Sime Darby, which fell six sen to RM8.52, IOI Corp shed 14 sen to RM5.20 and PPB Group declined 10 sen to RM15.92.

As for the banking sector, Maybank lost two sen to RM6.66, CIMB Group and Public Bank slid six sen each to RM11.10 and RM10.20, respectively, and RHB Capital lost 15 sen to RM5.10.
Tenaga Nasional fell two sen to RM8.18, Axiata dropped three sen to RM3.14 and Genting declined 19 sen to RM9.

On the Main Market, turnover slipped to 416.577 million shares worth RM595.463 million against Friday’s 632.296 million shares worth RM929.450 million.
Turnover on the ACE market also dropped to 20.852 million shares valued at RM5.445 million from 31.587 million shares valued at RM8.74 million previously.