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.
Just this morning, Malaysians were greeted with a good news,
the oil rally of 6% and it already feels like it’s gonna be a good day for the
market.
![]() |
| FBM KLCI closed marginally higher while Asian stocks dropped |
Well, it did, at least for a start but as at 5pm, FBM KLCI
closed at 1,677.28 points on profit taking after reaching an intraday high at
1,685.88.
In the Asia region, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.37%, South Korea's
Kospi dropped 0.11%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng down to 0.25%.
The oil rally on Monday that had boosted global equity
markets made a U-turn. US front-month West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
futures were trading at US$32.72 per barrel at 0753 GMT, down 67 US cents from
Monday's settlement.
International benchmark Brent was also down 61 US cents at
US$34.08 a barrel.
On Monday, we have seen oil prices jumped to as much as 7%
as there are speculations over the falling US shale output fed the notion that
crude prices may be bottoming after their 20-month collapse.
In Europe, Euro and sterling were hit by uncertainty over Britain's membership of the European Union.
The top gainer was Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd while the leading decliners included Nestle (M) Bhd and Cycle & Carriage Bintang Bhd. The most active stock was APFT Bhd.

Comments
Post a Comment