By Nurul Jannah Kamaruddin
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (NNN-Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia (Malaysia’s Stock Exchange) continued to see weaknesses in the morning session as investors adopted a wait-and-see stance ahead of the government’s announcement on new COVID-19 measures later Monday.
At 12.30 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 20.01 points to 1,613.18 after losing 5.97 points to 1,627.22 at the opening compared with Friday’s close of 1,633.19.
The index moved between 1,607.52 and 1,627.22 throughout the morning session.
On the broader market, losers surpassed gainers 584 to 503, while 823 counters were unchanged, 174 untraded and 13 others suspended.
Total volume stood at 4.28 billion units worth US$860.15 million (RM3.26 billion, US$1 = RM4.04).
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is scheduled to make a special announcement Monday on measures to be implemented by the government to stem the rising COVID-19 cases in the country.
An analyst said the market was in a cautious mode amid growing fears of another lockdown, given the rising COVID-19 cases domestically.
The analyst said the not-so-rosy employment and production data for November 2020, which were unveiled today, may further affect sentiment.
Malaysia’s unemployment rate climbed to 4.8 per cent in November 2020 from 4.7 per cent in October 2020, the Department of Statistics Malaysia announced.
It said with the continuous uncertain economic and health situations worldwide as well as in the country, softer labour demand might continue in December 2020.
The Industrial Production Index contracted 2.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in November 2020 due to lower mining and electricity indexes.
Meanwhile, manufacturing sales grew 2.1 per cent y-o-y to RM119.9 billion in the month. However, on a monthly basis, sales value went down by 1.7 per cent.
On a more positive note, the government via the Health Ministry and Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd on Monday signed the manufacturing and supply agreement for the pharmaceutical company’s COVID-19 vaccines in Malaysia.
Today’s agreement was an extension of the binding heads of terms agreement signed on Nov 24, 2020.
Among the heavyweights, 23 counters were in the red led by Maybank, which was down 24 sen to RM8.16, and PetChem, which fell 27 sen to RM7.29.
Hartalega lost 38 sen to RM12.12, Top Glove went down 13 sen to RM6.37, and TNB was 18 sen easier at RM10.34.
In contrast, KLK added 70 sen to RM24.70 and IHH was flat at RM5.61.
Of the actives, Bintai Kinden was 11.5 sen firmer at 70.5 sen. The company announced Friday its subsidiary, Bintai Healthcare Sdn Bhd, had been appointed as the exclusive distributor for Greenie Medi Cold Chain Box, designed for storage and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine in Southeast Asia.
AT Systematization was half-a-sen lower at 18.5 sen and DGB Asia trimmed 5.5 sen to 19 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 107.73 points to 11,529.72, the FBMT 100 Index narrowed 120.46 points to 11,287.35, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 116.26 points to 13,037.68.
The FBM 70 slashed 77 points to 14,411.11 and the FBM ACE improved 1.54 points to 10,498.95.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index weakened 187.22 points to 14,820.89 and the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 2.4 points to 172.18, while the Plantation Index increased 75.04 points to 7,493.33.
— NNN-BERNAMA