Artroniq faces continued selling pressure, short-selling in Jentayu suspended

KUALA LUMPUR: Artroniq Bhd, which fell to its bottom trading limit in the previous session, is continuing to see heavy selling pressure, even as investors on Bursa Malaysia grow cautious amid a downturn in global sentiment.

Artroniq Bhd hit limit down in Wednesday trade, after a sell-off that began on Tuesday picked up speed.

Going by its opening price on Thursday trading, there is yet to be any let up in the furious disposal of the ICT provider.

Artroniq, the leading active counter with over 200 million shares crossing, started 30 sen lower at its limit down price of 19.5 sen before retracing slightly to 24.5 sen a share.

The company received an unusual market activity (UMA) query from Bursa Malaysia over the sharp fall in its share price on Wednesday.

In response, the company said the board is unaware of any corporate development, report or explanation to account for the unusual trading activity.

Meanwhile, another company has joined the ranks of those that triggered a suspension of short-selling on their stock this week.

Short-selling under IDSS for Jentayu Sustainables Bhd was suspended for the rest of Thursday's session as the share dropped more than 15% from the reference price.

At its lowest, the energy plant operator fell as much as 18 sen or 15.7% to 96 sen a share.

Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd (SCIB), Rapid Synergy Bhd and YNH Property Bhd, meanwhile, are seeing some reprieve from the furious selling that overcame their stock over the last two days.

These shares are currently trading unchanged after investors sold them to their lower limits in recent sessions.

Mercury Securities Bhd, which hit limit down yesterday, has bounced 2.5 sen higher to 48 sen a share at the time of writing.

According to Malacca Securities Research, investors have turned risk adverse following the downturn in global sentiment, are are focusing their funds on fundamentally strong counters.

"For the upcoming session, we believe the negative sentiment could persist on the fundamentally weak companies, but bargain hunting activities will be seen in solid companies," it said in a pre-market open report.

At 9.41am, the benchmark FBM KLCI is down 3.53 points to 1,487.68. The number of decliners on the broader market overwhelm gainers 391 to 214, while 348 remain unchanged. The trading volume stood at 915.08 million shares valued at RM378.64mil.