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KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 2): The FBM KLCI closed down 3.54 points or 0.22% at 1,598.72 today after taking profits in the last hour of trading following an afternoon rally in a Apparent response to news that the UK became the first country to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine for COVID-19. However, lower crude oil prices offset the impact of Covid-19 vaccine-fueled sentiment on stocks.
In Bursa Malaysia at 5pm, 9.22 billion securities were traded for RM5.43 billion.
There were 640 winners and 557 declining, as investors also weighed the weaker manufacturing data from Malaysia and the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kenneth Leong, Senior Analyst at Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd, said theedgemarkets.com that “weaker manufacturing data released yesterday weighed on market sentiment.”
Globally today, it was reported that Asian stocks rose on Wednesday after a strong Wall Street lead fueled by hopes for additional US economic stimulus and a coronavirus vaccine, but trading was choppy as some investors made a profit.
The UK was reported on Wednesday to become the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use and said it will be launched early next week. “A vaccine is seen as the best chance for the world to return to something close to normal amid a global pandemic that has killed nearly 1.5 million people and disrupted the world economy.” Reuters reported.
In commodity markets, crude oil prices were reported to have extended losses on Wednesday, hit by a surprise surge in oil inventories in the United States and when OPEC and its allies left markets in limbo by delaying a formal meeting to decide whether to increase production in January. Brent crude futures were reported to be down 41 cents, or 0.9%, to $ 47.01 a barrel at 0358 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude was down 46 cents, or 1%, to $ 44. , 09.
Yesterday in Malaysia, IHS Markit said in a press release that the IHS Markit Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, a single-digit composite indicator of manufacturing performance, declined fractionally for the fifth consecutive month, from 48.5 in October to 48.4 in November.
This reading signaled further moderation in the health of the manufacturing sector, although the trend appears to flatten out, while the deterioration was considerably less marked than that seen during the first wave of the pandemic, IHS Markit said.
“The recovery in Malaysia’s manufacturing sector continued to lose momentum in the middle of the fourth quarter of the year. Businesses continued to reduce production, while new order inflows moderated. An increase in cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid -19) both domestically and around the world has led to a reduction in demand for Malaysian manufactured goods, as supply chains struggled to deliver inputs in a timely manner. However, Malaysian manufacturers were increasingly optimistic regarding the outlook for next year, hoping that the end of the pandemic would lead to a broader recovery in demand, ”said IHS Markit.
Today in Bursa, the KLCI erased the losses around 3:30 pm after news about the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in the UK appeared to offer respite to the 30-share index, which had fallen. previously as global stocks followed suit of lower crude prices.
However, the KLCI, which rose to its intraday high of 1,605.60 following the news of the approval of the Covid-19 vaccine, closed lower after a last hour of decline.
At 5 p.m., the KLCI’s 0.22% drop followed the 1.87% drop in Bursa’s energy index, which tracks the stocks of oil and gas-related companies.
The Energy Index was the lowest percentage among the Bursa meters.
Across Bursa, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd and Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd, related to oil and gas, were among those notably declined.
Petron’s share price closed 12 sen or 2.84% lower at RM 4.11 while Hengyuan fell 11 sen or 2.51% at RM 4.28.
Meanwhile, the most traded stock was Bioalpha Holdings Bhd, which traded some 487 million shares. The price of its shares closed 4.5 sen or 12.68% down at 31 sen.
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