Bursa Malaysia ends lower

spooked by a North Korean nuclear test over the weekend which sparked fears of regional instability.

On the local front, Bursa Malaysia, which bucked regional trend by opening higher, later slipped into a downward bias following the event, weighed down by selling in heavyweight stocks led by the finance sector.

Regionally, the Singapore Straits Times index gained 0.62 per cent to 3,250.84, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was f lat at 27,741.35, South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.13 per cent to 2,326.62 and Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.63 per cent to 19,385.81.

Among heav ywei ght s , Maybank eased four sen to RM9.42, CIMB Group fell 32 sen to RM6.76, Tenaga added 10 sen to RM14.38, while Public Bank and Sime Darby were f lat at RM20.60 and RM9, respectively.

Of actives, Sino Hua- an added 5.5 sen to 21 sen, China Stationery improved three sen to seven sen, Palet te Multimedia gained five sen to 20 sen and Anzo Holdings up one sen to 11 sen.

The FBM Emas Index was down 16.76 points to 12,593.31, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 13.38 points to 12,268.28 and the FBM Ace slipped 35.93 points to 6,576.81.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 43.36 points to 12,792.45 and the FBM 70 rose 25.48 points to 15,085.32.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index was 1.75 points higher at 7,850.21, the Industrial Index eased 2.25 points to 3,198.89 and the Finance Index dropped 174.77 points to 16,597.54.

The Main Market volume increased to 1.67 billion shares worth RM2.03 billion from 1.25 bi l lion shares worth RM2.10 billion recorded last Wednesday.

Volume on the ACE Market improved to 672 million units valued at RM123.32 million versus last Wednesday’s 424.62 million units valued at RM87 million.

Warrants increased to 155.24 million shares worth RM21.58 million from 148.80 million shares worth RM18.36 million previously.

C on sume r pr o duc t s accounted for 317.73 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products ( 607.45 million), construction ( 90.66 million), trade and services ( 352.26 mil lion), technology ( 66.16 million), infrastructure ( 8.50 million), SPAC (17.95 million), finance ( 6 8 .6 6 mi l l ion) , hotel s ( 220,700), properties (112.55 million), plantations ( 22.54 million), mining ( 772,800), REITs ( 8.92 mi l lion) and closed/fund (nil). For further information on stocks and prices, please visitwww. bursamalaysia. com.