KLCI tracks regional downtrend to finish at 1,577.75

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the week in the negative territory a er trading sideways throughout the day, as the downtrend of the regional markets cast a shadow on investors’ sentiments.

At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 3.79 points, or 0.24 per cent to 1,577.75 from 1,581.54 at Thursday’s closing.

The key index opened 0.57 of-a-point lower at 1,580.97 and hovered between 1,563.56 and 1,586.23 throughout the day.

Market breadth was negative with losers thumping gainers 931 to 317, while 414 counters were unchanged, 537 untraded and 65 others suspended.

Total volume was lower at 9.81 billion units worth RM7.0 billion, compared with 10.44 billion units worth RM6.57 billion on Thursday.

Commenting on yesterday’s performance, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd head of Equity Sales, Vincent Lau said the local market barometer staged a mild pullback yesterday as investors remained ji ery amidst the regional markets’ retreat.

“Despite the fall in the FBM KLCI, we did see some bargain hunting activities in the final hour, which li ed the key index to close higher at 1,577.75 from its intraday low of 1,563.56,” he told Bernama.

Lau added that a series of be er-than-anticipated corporate results released over the past few days also helped to cap the losses in the key index yesterday.

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index edged down 0.82 per cent to 2,949.04, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index contracted 3.64 per cent to 28,980.21 and Japan’s Nikkei was 3.99 per cent lower at 28,966.01.

Among the 30 FBM KLCI constituents, Petronas Chemicals retreated 35 sen to RM7.43, Digi eased five sen to RM3.70, Maybank and Top Glove were both six sen lower at RM8.03 and RM5.24, respectively, while Sime Darby Plantation declined seven sen to RM4.90.