KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia’s key index closed lower as investors locked in profits following three consecutive sessions of gains, with banking and oil and gas counters leading the decline. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 6.18 points, or 0.36 per cent, to close at 1,713.76 from Tuesday’s close of 1,719.94. The benchmark index opened 0.72 of a point higher at 1,720.66, and moved between 1,712.88 and 1,724.83. On the broader market, gainers led losers 590 to 475, while 604 counters were unchanged, 1,034 untraded, and 11 suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.07 billion units valued at RM2.84 billion from 3.52 billion units valued at RM2.75 billion on Tuesday.
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 24): The FBM KLCI ended the week lower today as investors were either staying at the sidelines waiting for fresh leads ahead of the 14th General Election or switching to regional markets for higher returns.
At 5pm, the benchmark index fell 4.04 points or 0.23% to close at 1,717.23 points, after ranging between 1,713.26 points and 1,720.38 points.
The benchmark index has declined by 4.2% or 75.12 points from this year's peak of 1,792.35 points on June 14.
Areca Capital Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Danny Wong told theedgemarkets.com that the Malaysia market weakness may persist for the next few weeks.
“I think the sentiment will remain weak over the next few weeks because of uncertainties on the upcoming general election. If you look at the regional market, there are many other markets which look more attractive than us. As foreign investors, it is very normal for them to opt out of Malaysia and go to somewhere that gives them better returns,” he said.
“Having said that, the mid-and small cap stocks are still attractive in Malaysia, judging by their recent quarterly financial results,” he added.
On Bursa Malaysia, some 1.84 billion shares worth some RM2.53 billion were traded today. On the scoreboard, losers outnumbered gainers 476 to 322, with 462 counters remaining unchanged.
Trive Property Group Bhd was the most actively traded counter, with 54.9 million shares traded. The counter went up 0.5 sen to 6.5 sen. Low-cost long haul carrier AirAsia X Bhd was the second most actively traded stock with 47.39 million shares changing hands. Its share price dropped two sen to 36 sen.
The ringgit weakened against the US dollar to 4.1170, and against the Singapore dollar to 3.0558 today.
Most major regional market indices closed on a positive note today, with Japan’s Nikkei gaining 0.12%, the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index going up by 0.53% and South Korean Kospi advancing 0.28%.
Reuters reported that Asian shares hovered below their 10-year peak on Friday while mainland Chinese shares dropped to three-month lows after big falls the previous day on concerns about fresh government steps to curb financial risks and an ongoing rout in the Chinese bond market.
Source: The Edge
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