KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the last trading day of a volatile 2020 on a downbeat note on Thursday.
Bursa's key index FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 1.05 per cent, weighed down by selling in heavyweights led by Sime Darby Plantation and IHH Healthcare Bhd, Asia's most valuable hospital group.
FBM KLCI fell 17.20 points to finish at 1,627.21, its intraday low, after hitting a high of 1,644.26 earlier.
The index opened 0.15 of-a-point easier at 1,644.26, compared to Wednesday's close of 1,644.41.
Turnover was at 5.508 billion shares valued at RM3.109 billion.
Looking back at this year, FBM KLCI started its sharp fall on March 11, subsequently plunging to an 11-year and 2020 low of 1,219.72 points on March 19, a day after the Movement Control Order took effect.
This was recorded during the global stock market crash from February 20 to April 7.
The crash was the fastest fall in global stock markets in financial history and the most devastating crash since the Wall Street crash of 1929.
In the last trading session of 2020, other regional markets closed mix. The Hang Seng Index ended 0.31 per cent or 84.02 points higher at 27,231.13, the Kospi Composite Index rose 1.88 per cent to 2873.47 while the Singapore Straits Times Index closed down 25.41 points to 2843.81.
AxiTrader chief Asia market strategist Stephen Innes said after a tumultuous year filled with political turmoil, trade war side effects and Covid-19 beatdown, the stars were starting to align as the most beaten down sectors around travel and oil look set to leap higher in 2021, thanks to the Covid-19 vaccine optimism.
"Into the year-end, the FBM KLCI is sailing on an even keel guided by a stronger ringgit that opens up a panacea of goodies for Malaysian capital markets," said Innes.
Rakuten Trade said it was beginning to see foreign funds inflow into the local bourse ahead of 2021 and expected more to come going forward.
"Therefore, we expect the banking sector plus a few laggards namely the gaming, energy and telecommunication sectors to be in the forefront for these funds," it added.