KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 3): Bursa Malaysia ended the first trading day in 2023 lower with the key index falling 1.44% on profit-taking due to recent gains.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) dropped 21.5 points to 1,473.99 from last Friday's closing of 1,495.49.

The market bellwether opened 6.95 points lower at 1,488.54 and moved between 1,473.8 and 1,488.54 throughout the day.

The market was closed on Monday as a replacement holiday for New Year's Day, which fell on Sunday.

Turnover increased to 3.72 billion units worth RM1.47 billion from last Friday's 2.43 billion units worth RM2.51 billion.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd believed that the outlook for the local bourse remained positive due to attractive valuations and continuous support from local institutions, despite profit-taking activities on Tuesday, said its vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng.

"We view the profit-taking activities today as a good opportunity to bargain hunt for stocks at lower levels. For the week, we expect the FBM KLCI to hover between 1,470 and 1,490, with immediate support at 1,460 and resistance at 1,500,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) added one sen to RM8.71, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd was flat at RM8.60, Public Bank Bhd declined four sen to RM4.28, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd slid 10 sen to RM5.70, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) lost 33 sen to RM9.30.

As for the actives, ACE Market debutant L&P Global Bhd soared 24.5 sen to 54.5 sen, Citaglobal Bhd rose four sen to 33 sen, Cypark Resources Bhd advanced five sen to 52 sen, while both MMAG Holdings Bhd and Borneo Oil Bhd inched down half-a-sen to two sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 114.2 points to 10,587.35, the FBMT 100 Index went down 118.38 points to 10,301.42, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shrank 141.72 points to 10,796.83.

The FBM 70 Index fell 11.23 points to 13,003.79, and the FBM ACE Index advanced 28.82 points to 5,337.15.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index slipped 142.02 points to 16,359.29, the Plantation Index slid 110.85 points to 6,973.83, the Industrial Products and Services Index put on 0.12 points to 181.9, and the Energy Index perked up 5.16 points to 781.35.

The Main Market volume expanded to 1.64 billion shares worth RM1.01 billion from last Friday's 1.50 billion shares worth RM2.20 billion.

Warrants turnover increased to 501.32 million units valued at RM118.68 million against 370.58 million units valued at RM73.08 million previously.

The ACE Market volume jumped to 1.57 billion shares worth RM340.32 million from 563.76 million shares worth RM239.11 million.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 243.21 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (790.07 million), construction (29.94 million), technology (170.86 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (56.23 million), property (61.42 million), plantation (22.89 million), REITs (6.07 million), closed/fund (13,500), energy (93.74 million), healthcare (97.79 million), telecommunications and media (21.02 million), transportation and logistics (39.74 million), and utilities (11.54 million).