foreign funds sold down their shareholdings in Malaysian equities in the week ended Sept 24 with net selling at RM1.268bil.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended in the morning trading session in red, dampened by across-the-board selling following bearish regional sentiment and plunging oil prices.
At midday, the benchmark FBM KLCI index closed 8.24 points, or 0.49% lower at 1,679.33 points alongside dips in regional markets.
Broader market sentiment was weak, with 476 losers outpacing 236 gainers and 266 counters which traded unchanged. Turnover was at 1.179 million shares valued at RM752.88mil.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100.69 points to 25,286.49, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.2% to 2,722.18, posting its fourth straight decline. The Nasdaq Composite closed just along the flatline at 7,200.87.
In its market update this morning, PublicInvest Research said the FBM KLCI might open with a negative bias today after US stocks gave back early gains, with the S&P 500 ending lower for the fourth day in a row, as a rebound for techs and financials faded and the energy sector tumbled as oil prices once again came under heavy pressure.
JF Apex Research said the FBM KLCI indicators were mixed with the RSI falling towards the oversold zone while the MACD was hovering above its signal line.
“After last week’s gains, this week’s decline saw the index pull back and fall below the support of 1,700 points. Given the bearish sentiment and lack of catalyst, the index could be heading south towards the support of 1,660 points,” it said.
At Bursa Malaysia, United Plantations was the top loser, shedding 28 sen to RM26.60. Hong Leong Industries fell 26 sen to RM10.28 and Public Bank declined 24 sen to RM24.40.
Nestle gained 40 sen to RM144, Hong Leong Financial Group added 30 sen to RM19 while Petronas Dagangan closed 18 sen higher to RM26.78.
Petronas Gas fell 14 sen to RM18.60 and Petronas Chemicals 13 sen to RM9.41. Diaog lost eight sen to RM3.19.
Oil markets struggled to find their footing on Wednesday after plunging by 7% the previous session, with surging supply and the spectre of faltering demand keeping investors on edge, Reuters reported.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil dropped 26 cents to US$55.43 per barrel while international benchmark Brent crude oil futures were down 17 cents at US$65.30 per barrel.
The regional markets finished broadly lower at midday with Nikkei 225 was down 0.15% to 21,778.41, China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.06% to 2,653.24, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.28% to 25,721.69 while South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.2% to 2,067.06.
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