Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 2): The FBM KLCI closed the first trading day of the new year in the red, as external factors continued to drive the market down.

The benchmark index closed 22.47 points or 1.33% lower at 1,668.11 after moving between 1,666.07 and 1,694.1.

Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong said he had expected a gloomy start to the year.

"In the next few days, there won't be any internal catalyst that would excite the market. For now, it is still driven by external factors," he told theedgemarkets.com.

"So unless there is some sort of resolution on the trade war, our market will still be slow," Wong added.

Five KLCI component stocks were among the top 10 losers of the day, namely Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd (-0.47%), Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (-2.59%), Petronas Gas Bhd (-3.23%), Petronas Dagangan Bhd (-1.89%) and PPB Group Bhd (-2.27%).

Trading volume was low at 1.68 billion shares worth RM951.04 million. A total of 247 counters closed higher against 475 decliners, while 363 stocks finished unchanged.  

Elsewhere in Asia, stocks were also grim as more disappointing economic data from China darkened the mood and upended US stock futures, according to Reuters.

The news agency reported that MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan skidded 1.6% as a private sector survey showed China manufacturing activity contracted for the first time in 19 months.

Shanghai’s Shenzhen CSI 300 Index quickly shed 1.2% and South Korea's KOSPI fell 1.5%, while Japan's Nikkei was closed for a holiday.

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