KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI ended lower on Monday on sustained weaker sentiment at the domestic market, bucking the regional trend.
At 5pm, the benchmark index fell 0.39% or 5.55 points to 1,417.37 after moving between its intraday day of 1,427.36 and low of 1,415.94.
Losers led gainers by 547 to 304, while 411 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 2.66 billion shares valued at RM1.41bil.
Dealers noted that trading sentiment was wobbly due to uncertainties over the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations.
SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said there has been some short covering on US futures and oil markets after US President Biden hinted that progress is being made on debt ceiling negotiations ahead of tomorrow's major hand-wringing event.
“Only time will tell whether the short-covering rally persists, but this is the base case for most. Still, there could be a bit of a growth hit if fiscal compromises need to be made to ink a deal.
“Traders came in looking for bear today and are going home empty-handed for now. So, with risk sentiment improving on the margin, the EURUSD and most G-10 FX are recovering as USD ‘safe haven’ demand slightly ebbs,” he said.
“Even if the Fed goes firmly on hold, the major European central banks still have work to do because the level of rates remains lower than in the US, and the evidence for wage and price deceleration remains less compelling,” he added.
At Bursa Malaysia, PETRONAS Dagangan slid 40 sen to RM21.72, Hap Seng eased 21 sen to RM4.53, YNH Property fell 18 sen to RM4.82 and Heineken declined 16 sen to RM28.04.
Among the gainers, Nestle rose 50 sen to RM135, Ajinomoto gained 22 sen to RM14.82, Negri Sembilan Oil Palms added 20 sen to RM3.60 and PPB climbed 18 sen to RM16.40.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.81%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 1.75%, South Korea’s Kospi closed up 0.16% and China’s CSI 300 gained 1.55%.
