KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI finished lower on Wednesday, its third straight session in negative territory as markets awaited a decision on interest rates by the US Federal Reserve.
At 5 pm, the benchmark index closed down 6.1 points, or 0.42% at 1,451.56.
There were 537 gainers, 423 losers and 440 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 3.55 billion shares valued at RM2.5bil.
Dealers said investor mood turned cautious and were keeping a close eye on policy decisions from the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve is expected to leave rates unchanged at the current range of between 5.25% and 5.5% when it concludes a two-day meeting, Reuters reported.
Nestle was the top loser, falling 60 sen to RM129.30 followed by Hong Leong Financial Group, which slid 32 sen to RM17.66. PETRONAS Dagangan eased 22 sen to RM23.20 and PPB fell 16 sen to RM15.64.
Among the gainers, Hap Seng added 23 sen to RM4.71, Dutch Lady
rose 20 sen to RM22.60, F&N gained 20 sen to RM25.44 and PMB Technology climbed 10 sen to RM3.17.
Ekovest was the most actively traded stock. The stock, which saw 163.99 million shares traded, rose 1.5 sen to 57 sen.
Meanwhile, Brent crude fell US$1.42 to US$92.92 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate crude was last traded at US$89.90 per barrel, down US$1.30.
Among the key regional markets:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed down 0.66% to 33,023.78;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.62% to 17,885.60;
CSI 300 Index lost 0.4% to 3,705.69;
Taiwan’s Taiex closed down 0.61% to 16,534.75;
South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.02% to 2,559.74 and;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.08% to 3,243.34 points.
