Calm returned to Bursa Malaysia as panic selling receded after Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin assured that business activities will remain as usual despite the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency today.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 5.21 points to 1,612.04.
The index opened 1.41 points lower at 1,615.84 compared with Monday’s close of 1,617.25, and moved between 1,590.71 and 1,621.10 throughout the trading session.
On the broader market, gainers trounced losers 732 to 502, while 421 counters were unchanged, 429 untraded and 12 others suspended.
Total volume surged to 8.41 billion units worth RM5.76 billion from 6.63 billion units worth RM5.56 billion on Monday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said a knee-jerk reaction in the stock market and panic selling among investors seen earlier were inevitable amid worries that the government's move might further exacerbate the economy, which has been adversely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Perhaps investors will be more cautious in terms of risk appetite but in the medium term, the sentiment should normalise later on.
"The reason being that the civilian government will continue to function during the state of emergency," he said.
Adam also believed the economic impact from the re-implementation of the movement control order (MCO) will be less severe than the first MCO enforced in March last year.
"Economic output loss in the first quarter (Q1) 2021 might be lower than Q1 2020, as MCO 2.0 only affects six states.
"The government has mentioned that businesses in sectors such as factories, manufacturing, construction, services, trade and distribution, agriculture, and farming are considered essential economic sectors and, hence, are allowed to operate with SOPs in place," he noted.
Muhyiddin has said the country's economic activities will continue to function throughout the duration of the state of emergency, but is subject to compliance with the SOPs and the re-implementation of the MCO.
The prime minister said the government would ensure that economic activities did not stop so that the people could continue to work, while business, trade and industry could continue to operate as usual.
“The government is also committed to ensuring that best governance practices continue to be practised throughout the implementation of the state of emergency.
“Internationally recognised national regulatory organisations, namely Bank Negara Malaysia, the Securities Commission Malaysia and Bursa Malaysia will continue to play their role as regulatory catalysts; and facilitators of companies and markets,” he said.
Muhyiddin said this in a special address in conjunction with the proclamation of the emergency aired by television stations today.
Earlier today, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah proclaimed an emergency that will be enforced until Aug 1 as a proactive measure to contain the worsening Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
The King decreed that the emergency be in force up to that date, or earlier if the number of positive Covid-19 cases could be effectively controlled and reduced.
Among heavyweights counters, Top Glove rose 25 sen to RM6.68 and Hartalega surged 92 sen to RM13.14.
Maybank lost 19 sen to RM8, Public Bank declined 20 sen to RM20.08 and CIMB slid 12 sen to RM3.92.
TNB went down 12 sen to RM10.12 and PetChem dipped 10 sen to RM7.20.
Of the actives, Iris added 4.5 sen to 39 sen, while Lambo and AT Systematization was half-a-sen higher at 3.5 sen and 18 sen respectively.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index gained 3.58 points to 11,552.06, the FBMT 100 Index lost 12.82 points to 11,300.24, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index recovered 89.14 points to 13,159.83.
The FBM 70 rose 76.51 points to 14,509.59, while the FBM ACE improved 144.45 points to 10,503.49.
Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index sank 284.90 points to 14,546.51, the Industrial Products and Services Index added 0.96 of-a-point to 172.96 and the Plantation Index fell 21.13 points to 7,462.44.
The Main Market volume jumped to 5.17 billion shares worth RM4.74 from yesterday's 3.59 billion shares worth RM4.38 billion.
Warrants turnover slipped to 537.39 million units valued at RM81 million versus 626.78 million units valued at RM99.08 million.
Volume on the ACE Market rose to 2.7 billion shares worth RM939.38 million from 2.41 billion shares worth RM1.1 billion previously.
Consumer products and services accounted for 603.83 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (2.03 billion), construction (288.34 million), technology (441.78 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (115.19 million), property (355.35 million), plantations (58.03 million), REITs (18.32 million), closed/fund (37,600), energy (544.37 million), healthcare (178.55 million), telecommunications and media (66.58 million), transportation and logistics (401.08 million), and utilities (70.07 million).
- Bernama
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