Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 9): The FBM KLCI was dragged down by component stocks like Tenaga Nasional Bhd today, while the broader market sentiment was weighed down by the overnight decline on Wall Street, after the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to keep its policy unchanged.

The KLCI settled at 1,686.44, down 4.94 points or 0.29% over yesterday’s close.

Trading volume was thin at 1.34 billion shares, worth some RM1.36 billion. There were 324 counters that rose against 401 that fell, while 429 stocks remained unchanged.

Gainers were led by Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, while the biggest loser was British American Tobacco (M) Bhd.

Dagang Nexchange Bhd’s warrant was the most active counter, with 57.41 million units traded.

Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd technical analyst Loui Low Ley Yee said the KLCI’s movement was mainly influenced by the drop in Tenaga Nasional Bhd. “This came after the news that Khazanah (Nasional Bhd) wants to divest some of its stake in Tenaga,” he told theedgemarkets.com.

“The broader market is negative today as well; people did not seem to be interested to trade today. Market volume is lower than the three-month average of 1.74 billion shares.

“There are also people that don’t want to hold up too much stocks over the long weekend, so there was some profit taking throughout the day as well,” he added.

JF Apex Securities Bhd senior analyst Lee Cherng Wee said the macro sentiment remained subdued today, after the ECB decided to “hold fire” on its quantitative easing policy.

The Associated Press reported Asian markets were mostly lower today, on disappointment about the ECB's decision to keep policy unchanged.

Nevertheless, Japan’s Nikkei managed to inch up 0.04% to 16,965.76 points; Hong Kong Hang Seng Index also went up by 0.75% to 24,099.70; while South Korean Kospi declined 1.25% to 2,037.87.

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