KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s benchmark index closed lower today, in line with most regional markets, as investors adjusted their risk exposure amid spiralling oil prices driven by the ongoing West Asia conflict, now in its second month. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) retreated by 24.75 points or 1.44 per cent to 1,687.90 from Friday’s close of 1,712.65. The market bellwether opened 10.57 points weaker at 1,702.08 and fluctuated between 1,682.79 and 1,702.38. The broader market was bearish, with decliners thumping advancers 956 to 371. A total of 373 counters were unchanged, 1,042 untraded and 134 suspended. Turnover expanded to 3.98 billion units worth RM4.85 billion from last Friday’s 2.97 billion units worth RM3.25 billion.
As crude oil slids further down to a new low since May 2009, the FBM KLCI follow suits with a drop of 1.15%. As at time of writing of this post, the Brent crude oil was at US$51.57 a barrel while US crude oil was at US$48.81. The FBM KLCI closed at 1,716.580 pts, a drop of 20.04 pts or 1.15%. With the oil price slump continued, analysts are not being too optimistic. TA Research chartist Stephen Soo told theedgemarkets.com that he did not see the market rebounding over the immediate term, and that it was possible the market could test new lows this year. For the Top 10 Active, Top 10 Gainers and Top 10 Losers, you may find as below: Iris leads the Top active counter for the day United Plantation Bhd, DKSH Bhd, Ibraco Bhd and Muda Holdings Bhd are among the top 10 gainers today The decliners were lead by British American Tobacco (BAT), Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd Regionally, market is also on a downtrend as oil pr...