Bursa Malaysia ends lower amid increased counters hitting limit down

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed broadly lower on Wednesday as investor sentiment took a hit on the increasing number of counters hitting limit down on the local bourse.

At closing, the benchmark FBM KLCI fell 2.66 points, or 0.18% to 1,491.21, with 16 of the component stocks finished lower.

In the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers with 832 stocks ending lower and 265 stocks finishing higher. That gave a market breadth of 0.32 indicating the bears were in better control.

Traded volume stood at 5.22 billion shares worth RM3.16bil.

Dealers said investors are concerned about the rising number of counters hitting limit down, signalling broader concerns about market dynamics.

“We believe the trading tone would stay fairly negative as we expect some of the companies that have traded significantly lower could bring more margin calls, thus affecting the overall market sentiment,” Malacca Securities said in a note earlier.

Artroniq Bhd and Mercury Securities Bhd are among the latest counters to hit limit down today.

Artroniq saw its share price tumble 37.74%, or 30 sen to 49.5 sen with 17.31 million shares traded. In the past five trading sessions, the ICT provider has fallen almost 43%.

The sharp fall in its share price also prompted Bursa Malaysia to issue the company with an unusual market activity (UMA) query.

Mercury Securities pared some of its losses before closing 29.5 sen, or 39.33% lower at 45.5 sen with 135.44 million shares done.

Meanwhile, Rapid Synergy, YNH Property and Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd (SCIB) continued to be under tremendous selling pressure, hitting limit down. Rapid Synergy and YNH are linked to Datuk Dr Yu Kuan Chon.

Rapid, the top loser on Bursa Malaysia, fell 29.91%, or RM1.69 to RM3.96 with 1.85 million shares done.

YNH plunged 29.48%, or 51 sen to RM1.22 with 1.48 million shares traded.

SCIB, continued its downtrend, falling 35.93%, or 30 sen to 53.5 sen with 202.5 million shares changed hands.

Other decliners, APB Resource Bhd lost 44 sen to RM2.05, Heineken eased 36 sen to RM24.06 and BLD Plantation declined 28 sen to RM10.92.

Earlier, Bursa Malaysia has suspended the short selling of SCIB, Jentayu Sustainable Bhd (JSB) and APB Resource securities for the rest of the day under the intraday short selling (IDSS).

The suspension was made after the last done price of the approved securities of the three companies dropped more than 15% or 15 sen from the reference price.

The short selling under IDSS will only be activated the following trading day on Jan 18 at 8:30 am.

PBA Holdings Bhd, the top gainer on Bursa Malaysia, jumped 43 sen, or 23.12% to RM2.29 following the announcement on water tariff hike.

The National Water Services Commission (SPAN) announced today water tariff rates will be increased by 22 sen per cubic meter from Feb 1 for domestic users in Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan.

United Plantations rose 34 sen to RM19.30, F&N added 24 sen to RM29, YTL Power gained 13 sen to RM3.78 and Malaysia Airports Holdings climbed 12 sen to RM7.72.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.7207, down 0.56% against the US dollar.

US West Texas Intermediate crude fell US$1.07 to US$71.33 and Brent lost US$1 to US$77.259 per barrel.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.4%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed down 3.71%, South Korea’s Kospi declined 2.47% and China’s composite index lost 2.09%.