KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed marginally lower on Friday, as cautious sentiment persisted, with investors remaining on the sidelines amid ongoing conflicts in West Asia, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 2.80 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,695.50 from Thursday’s close of 1,698.30. The benchmark index opened 5.82 points higher at 1,704.12, and moved between 1,693.65 and 1,708.12 throughout the day. However, market breadth remained positive, with gainers outnumbering losers 634 to 415, while 521 counters were unchanged, 1,077 untraded and 10 suspended. Turnover improved to 3.38 billion units worth RM2.95 billion from yesterday’s 3.20 billion units worth RM3.50 billion.
KUALA LUMPUR (June 28): The FBM KLCI erased earlier gains today to close down 0.4 points or 0.02% amid thin trading activity as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the first half window dressing activities.
Malaysian stocks extended their loss for the fourth consecutive day to end the day at 1,665.68 points, after climbing to an intraday high of 1,670.85. Trading volume fell to 1.56 billion shares worth RM1.66 billion compared with yesterday’s 2.01 billion shares worth RM1.99 billion.
"The market was a bit quiet. There was an absence of foreign sellers, but the bad news was the volume among bargain hunters was weak," TA Securities Research analyst Stephen Soo told theedgemarkets.com.
"One possible explanation could be that investors are saving their bullets for the upcoming window dressing for the first half of the year," he added.
Decliners led gainers by 419 counters against 365, while 650 counters were unchanged.
British American Tobacco (M) Bhd led gainers, followed by United Plantations Bhd and Padini Holdings Bhd. Lagging movers were Carlsberg Brewery (M) Bhd, Panasonic Manufacturing (M) Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd.
Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.01%, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.19% while Hong Kong's HSI rose 0.5%.
Reuters reported that Asian stocks slumped to nine-month lows on Thursday after Wall Street retreated overnight on renewed uncertainty regarding the US stance on Chinese investments in American technology companies.
In other markets, the ringgit extended its retreat against the US dollar. At the time of writing, the local currency was trading at 4.0445 against the greenback.
Source: The Edge
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