Kuala Lumpur benchmark KLCI today rose slightly by 0.51 of a point to settle at 1,600.09 points, almost at par with Wednesday’s close of 1,599.58 points.
Throughout the trading day, the index fluctuated within a nearly 10-point range from 1,590.83 points to 1,600.73 points.
This morning, the key index opened 4.40 points lower, down to 1,595.18 points, then surged to 1597.48 points. As at 10:02am, the benchmark KLCI traded down by 4.54 points to 1,595.04 points.
Towards the conclusion of the half-day session, the benchmark index recovered slightly, giving up just 3.5 points, finishing below the 1600-point threshold.
Sector-wise, at closing, the FBM suite of palm oil-related indices still ended lower at closing, though slightly higher from midday, as was the plantation sector index. The US dollar-denominatd palm oil index (FBMAPUSD) plunged 1.82% to settle at 11,039.55 points (-1.94 midday), followed by the ringgit-denominated index (FBMAPMYR) which slid 1.05% to close at 17,277.00 points (-1.20% midday), and the non-capped index (FBMPALMOIL-NC) which dipped 0.69% to close at 12,461.00 points (-0.87% midday). The plantation sector index itself also decreased by 0.61% (-.81% midday), settling at 7,586.11 points.
The Industrial Products & Services Index lost 0.92% to close at 170.90 points, the Telecommunications & Media Index shed 0.89% to settle at 533.32 points, and the Consumer Products & Services Index moved down 0.78% to end the day at 538.75 points.
Meanwhile, the Utilities Index rallied up by 3.19% to close at 1,748.29 points, followed by the Health Care Index which advanced 1.06%, settling at 2,384.72 points.
Winstar Capital Bhd which listed on Bursa’s ACE market today opened at RM0.49 this morning and at one point surged to the high of RM0.565. Listed under the industrial category, Winstar traded up 16 sen to RM0.51 at midday, up 45.71% from its listing price of RM0.35, on a turnover of 72,457,500 shares/units. At closing, Winstar was unchanged at RM0.51 with an added volume of 82,361,200 shares/units. Winstar is also the last Initial Public Offering (IPO) for year 2024.
YTL Corporation Bhd and YTL Power International Bhd were among the most active counters at closing with substantial gains and high trading turnovers. YTL Corporation added 41 sen to close at RM2.55 on a turnover of 89,008,600 shares/units to become the most traded stock for the day and was ranked second on the gainers’ list. YTL Power, on the other hand, was the third most traded counter after Winstar, rising 42 sen to close at RM4.09, recording a volume of 71,328,100 shares/units. YTL Power was also the top gainer on the list with the biggest intraday advance of 42 sen.
Glovemakers occupied the fourth and fifth spots on the most active counters list. Top Glove Corporation Bhd and Supermax Corporation Bhd both added two sen at closing to close at RM1.34 and RM1.19, respectively. Top Glove recorded a volume of 58,411,300 shares/units while Supermax 51,158,300 shares/units.
Other glove manufacturers closed mixed. Kossan Rubber Industries advanced five sen to close at RM2.74, Hartalega Holdings Bhd added two sen to close at RM4.05, however, Hextar Healthcare Bhd trimmed half a sen to end the day at RM0.185.
Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd was the biggest decliner for today, losing RM2.00 to close at RM97.00 on a volume of 94,500 shares/units, followed by Petronas Dagangan Bhd which shed 38 sen to close at RM19.86 on a volume of 376,200 shares/units, and PPB Group Bhd who gave up 24 sen to end the day at RM11.88 on a turnover of 1,399,200 shares/units.
Scientex Bhd, Main board’s industrial listing, ended today 20 sen lower to settle at RM4.30 on a turnover of 1,354,000 shares/units.
On the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers by 693 to 369, while 540 counters were unchanged, 870 untraded and 49 suspended.
Exchange-wide turnover increased to 3.20 billion shares/units valued at RM3.03 billion, from 2.55 billion shares/units valued at RM2.29 billion recorded on Wednesday.
Notably, ringgit to US dollar foreign exchange (forex) rate dipped by 1.01% at one point today and traded at the low of RM4.5155 to a dollar. As at 5:00pm, the forex rate recovered to end at RM4.5045 to a dollar, compared to yesterday’s close of RM4.4697 to a dollar.
Regional stock markets also plunged. The markets which declined by more than 1.00% included Australian, Indonesian, Filipino, South Korean and Taiwanese.
