KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Thursday as renewed geopolitical tensions in West Asia weighed on investor sentiment. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.97 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 1,677.64 from Wednesday's close of 1,683.61. The benchmark index opened 2.62 points lower at 1,680.99, and moved between 1,676.18 and 1,683.80 throughout the session. However, market breadth was slightly positive, with gainers leading losers 533 to 504, while 547 counters were unchanged, 1,112 untraded, and 12 suspended. Turnover slipped to 2.64 billion units valued at RM2.19 billion from 2.96 billion units valued at RM2.18 billion on Wednesday.
KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 13): The FBM KLCI closed up 7.35 points or 0.41% on bargain hunting and as Asian stocks rose on renewed interest in US-China trade talks.
Reuters reported that Asian shares advanced on Thursday on news the Trump administration has reached out to China for a new round of trade talks, which raised hopes for a deal easing the bitter tariff dispute between the world's two biggest economies. It was reported that MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 percent, a day after it hit 14-month lows.
At Bursa Malaysia, the KLCI closed at 1,792.6 after falling to its intraday low at 1,777.45. Yesterday, the KLCI fell 13.92 points.
Today, Vincent Khoo, head of research for Malaysia at UOB Kay Hian said: “I think the local market will continue to be squeezed by external sentiment." Khoo noted that the KLCI's recovery followed the direction of regional peers.
He said Malaysian markets may continue to track the movements of Mainland China and Hong Kong indices. Today, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite climbed 1.15% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 2.54%. Elsewhere across Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 0.96%.
Across Bursa Malaysia, 2.38 billion shares were crossed for RM2.58 billion. Top gainers included United Plantations Bhd besides KLCI-linked stocks, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Axiata Group Bhd.
Source: The Edge

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