KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia snapped its five-day winning streak to close lower on Wednesday, as investors took profit following a cumulative gain of 4.25 per cent over the past five sessions, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 14.76 points or 0.83 per cent to 1,756.49 from Tuesday’s close of 1,771.25. The market bellwether opened 1.46 points lower at 1,769.79, marking the day’s high, and hit a low of 1,750.05 during the mid-afternoon session. Market breadth was negative with losers trouncing gainers 876 to 384, while 525 counters were unchanged, 964 untraded and 94 suspended. Turnover improved to 3.65 billion units worth RM4.41 billion from Tuesday's 3.58 billion units worth RM4.46 billion.
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 14): The FBM KLCI fell 1.99 points or 0.1% on profit-taking as investors eyed the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision at the conclusion of its two-day meeting today.
Analysts said the KLCI's decline was driven by profit taking amid uncertainty over whether the US would hike interest rates. Higher US rates do not bode well for Asian markets in anticipation that investors will shift their money into US dollar-denominated assets.
"The KLCI is down amid the looming decision by the Fed on the US interest rate. The consensus is that there will be a hike, which could drive outflows in emerging markets like Malaysia," an analyst who requested anonymity told theedgemarkets.com.
At 5pm, the KLCI pared losses at 1,643.29 points. Earlier, the index declined to its intraday low at 1,639.93 points.
Bursa Malaysia saw 1.44 billion shares worth RM1.64 billion exchanged. Decliners outnumbered gainers at 362 against 314 respectively.
Earlier today, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd said in a note that while profit-taking in the KLCI could continue this week, the research firm expected the index to rise as the year-end approaches.
"We still expect the KLCI to trend higher towards 1,650 to 1,665 by end-December, in anticipation of year-end window dressing activities, coupled with the potential election catalyst," Hong Leong said.
Source: The Edge
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