KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 (Bernama) -- Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed lower on selling pressure today as investors cleared positions following the decline in Wall Street overnight after a slower than expected U.S. economic growth report and higher jobless claims, dealers said. At 5 pm, the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) fell 10.87 points or 0.79 percent to 1,357.40 after hovering between 1,369.54 and 1,354.79. It had opened slightly higher by 0.5 of a point at 1,368.32.
Dealers said selling pressure was seen in selected blue chips which dragged down the key index to negative territory after opening slightly higher today. They said there were bargain hunting activities in the afternoon session but this failed to wipe off earlier losses.
"Continued selling activities on key blue chips outweighed any buying activities," a dealer said.
On Thursday the overall U.S. markets fell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.88 percent or 112.10 points to 12,582.18, the S&P 500 Index dropping 0.89 percent or 12.34 points to 1,367.68 while the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.94 percent or 22.21 points to 2,331.57.
Regional markets also closed lower today on concerns that the U.S. economy is slipping into a recession, led by the Nikkei 225 Stock Index which fell 322.49 points or 2.3 percent to 13,603.02, as the KOSPI Index declined 24.55 points to 1,711.62, the Hang Seng Index eased 260.02 points to 24,331.67 and Singapore's STI slipped 47.70 points or 1.6 percent to 3,026.45.
On the local front, other indices also closed lower, with the Plantation Index falling 88.31 points to 8,421.24, the Industrial Index declining 36.73 points to 2,878.64 and the Finance Index dropping 68.52 points to 10,166.6.
The FBMEmas declined 47.84 points to 9,199.69, FBM30 dropped 86.70 points to 8,977.70, FBM2BRD fell 53.95 points to 6,203.30 and FBMMesdaq eased 23.39 points to 5,120.89.
Gainers led losers 383 to 357 while 261 counters were unchanged, 426 untraded and 31 suspended.
Overall volume however increased to 704.574 million shares valued at RM1.571 billion from 661.150 million shares worth RM1.370 billion yesterday.
Among actives, H-Display fell 14 sen to 29 sen while Winsun rose 5.5 sen to 19.5 sen.
MRCB gained 11 sen to RM2.01, TFP Solutions added 2.5 sen to 17 sen while Supercomal Technologies shed half sen to 15 sen.
Among top losers were DiGi, which fell 40 sen to RM23.90 as IOI Corp declined 25 sen to RM8.05 sen and Maybank lost 20 sen to RM9.10.
Of heavyweights, Sime Darby and Tenaga shed 10 sen each to RM11.60 and RM9.05 respectively, while Telekom was unchanged at RM11.40.
Public Bank added 10 sen to RM10.50 while Bumiputra-Commerce was flat at RM10.50.
Volume on the Main Board increased to 432.558 million shares worth RM1.5 billion from 412.710 million shares worth RM1.304 billion yesterday.
Turnover on the Second Board however declined to 45.889 million shares valued at RM31.163 million versus 54.710 million shares valued at RM29.436 million previously.
The Mesdaq Market's volume rose to 155.541 million shares valued at RM35.894 million from 99.528 million shares valued at RM27.350 million on Thursday.
Call warrants declined to 70.586 million shares valued at RM5.4 million against 94.202 million shares worth RM9.266 million previously.
Direct business deals however increased to 58.311 million shares worth RM43.190 million from 16.103 million shares worth RM20.460 million yesterday.
On a sectoral basis, consumer products accounted for 18.327 million shares traded on the Main Board, industrial products 55.235 million, construction 60.533 million, trade & services 122.542 million, technology 5.412 million, infrastructure 20.803 million, finance 49.946 million, hotels 951,500, properties 44.022 million, plantation 26.298 million, mining 31,000, REITS 1.502 million, closed/fund 62,800, ETF 838,000 and loans 26.055 million.
Dealers said selling pressure was seen in selected blue chips which dragged down the key index to negative territory after opening slightly higher today. They said there were bargain hunting activities in the afternoon session but this failed to wipe off earlier losses.
"Continued selling activities on key blue chips outweighed any buying activities," a dealer said.
On Thursday the overall U.S. markets fell, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.88 percent or 112.10 points to 12,582.18, the S&P 500 Index dropping 0.89 percent or 12.34 points to 1,367.68 while the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.94 percent or 22.21 points to 2,331.57.
Regional markets also closed lower today on concerns that the U.S. economy is slipping into a recession, led by the Nikkei 225 Stock Index which fell 322.49 points or 2.3 percent to 13,603.02, as the KOSPI Index declined 24.55 points to 1,711.62, the Hang Seng Index eased 260.02 points to 24,331.67 and Singapore's STI slipped 47.70 points or 1.6 percent to 3,026.45.
On the local front, other indices also closed lower, with the Plantation Index falling 88.31 points to 8,421.24, the Industrial Index declining 36.73 points to 2,878.64 and the Finance Index dropping 68.52 points to 10,166.6.
The FBMEmas declined 47.84 points to 9,199.69, FBM30 dropped 86.70 points to 8,977.70, FBM2BRD fell 53.95 points to 6,203.30 and FBMMesdaq eased 23.39 points to 5,120.89.
Gainers led losers 383 to 357 while 261 counters were unchanged, 426 untraded and 31 suspended.
Overall volume however increased to 704.574 million shares valued at RM1.571 billion from 661.150 million shares worth RM1.370 billion yesterday.
Among actives, H-Display fell 14 sen to 29 sen while Winsun rose 5.5 sen to 19.5 sen.
MRCB gained 11 sen to RM2.01, TFP Solutions added 2.5 sen to 17 sen while Supercomal Technologies shed half sen to 15 sen.
Among top losers were DiGi, which fell 40 sen to RM23.90 as IOI Corp declined 25 sen to RM8.05 sen and Maybank lost 20 sen to RM9.10.
Of heavyweights, Sime Darby and Tenaga shed 10 sen each to RM11.60 and RM9.05 respectively, while Telekom was unchanged at RM11.40.
Public Bank added 10 sen to RM10.50 while Bumiputra-Commerce was flat at RM10.50.
Volume on the Main Board increased to 432.558 million shares worth RM1.5 billion from 412.710 million shares worth RM1.304 billion yesterday.
Turnover on the Second Board however declined to 45.889 million shares valued at RM31.163 million versus 54.710 million shares valued at RM29.436 million previously.
The Mesdaq Market's volume rose to 155.541 million shares valued at RM35.894 million from 99.528 million shares valued at RM27.350 million on Thursday.
Call warrants declined to 70.586 million shares valued at RM5.4 million against 94.202 million shares worth RM9.266 million previously.
Direct business deals however increased to 58.311 million shares worth RM43.190 million from 16.103 million shares worth RM20.460 million yesterday.
On a sectoral basis, consumer products accounted for 18.327 million shares traded on the Main Board, industrial products 55.235 million, construction 60.533 million, trade & services 122.542 million, technology 5.412 million, infrastructure 20.803 million, finance 49.946 million, hotels 951,500, properties 44.022 million, plantation 26.298 million, mining 31,000, REITS 1.502 million, closed/fund 62,800, ETF 838,000 and loans 26.055 million.
