KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI spent the day vacillating between gains and losses before closing on a flat note on Thursday.
The benchmark index closed at 1,431.05, down 0.05-of-a-point after rising to an intraday high of 1,441.47.
There were 348 gainers, 500 losers and 410 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 2.34 billion shares valued at RM1.56bil.
In today’s session, 13 of the KLCI-component stocks were traded higher while 13 counters declined while four counters remained unchanged.
Stock market data showed that foreign funds were net sellers offloading RM189mil worth of equities on Wednesday. Local institutions and retailers were net buyers at RM146 mil and RM43mil respectively.
Dealers said investor sentiment is likely to remain cautious on risks of a global recession amid aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
On Bursa Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Kepong jumped 70 sen to RM22.84, Petronas Dagangan gained 36 sen to RM20.86, Malaysian Pacific Industries
rose 34 sen to RM27.20 and Nestle added 30 sen to RM132.80.
Laggards on Bursa Malaysia include PPB Group, Panasonic Manufacturing, KESM and Hong Leong Bank.
ACE Market debutant, YX Precious Metals Bhd declined one sen to 27 sen with 143.16 million shares traded.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.4070, down 0.03% against the US dollar.
US crude oil fell US$2.39 to US$103.80 per barrel and Brent crude lost US$2.30 to US$109.44 per barrel.
On the external front, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.08% at 26,171.25 while South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.22% to 2,314.32.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed up 1.26% to 21,273.87 and China’s CSI300 index added 1.72% to 4,343.88.
