FBM KLCI ends the day almost flat

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia traded sideways today with selling interspersing with buying as investors' sentiment stayed cautious.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was down 0.56 of a point at 1,530.09 after rising to an intraday high of 1,534.73.

There were 451 gainers, 468 losers and 415 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 2.85 billion shares valued at RM2.17bil.

In today’s session, 14 of the KLCI-component stocks closed lower while 11 counters advanced.

According to data on Bursa Malaysia, foreign investors and retailers were net buyers on the market to the tune of RM22mil and RM10mil respectively on Monday. Local institutions were net sellers at RM32mil.

PMB Technology was the top gainer on Bursa Malaysia, advancing RM1.54 to RM17.40. Sam Engineering added RM1.02 to RM22.30, Malaysia Airports rose 38 sen to RM6.11 and OM Holdings gained 30 sen to RM3.09.

The decliners included MPI, Hartalega, Nestle and Time Dotcom.

Hartalega fell 26 sen to RM5.57. The glovemaker posted a net profit of RM259.06mil in its third financial quarter ended Dec 31, 2021, which was a 74.14% decline over the RM1bil net profit recorded in the same quarter in 2020 as revenue slumped on a decline in average selling price (ASP) and sales volume.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that oil prices eased on Tuesday ahead of the resumption of indirect talks between the United States and Iran.

Brent crude was last down 22 cents, or 0.24%, at US$92.47 a barrel by 0716 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was down by 14 cents, or 0.16%, at US$91.18 a barrel.

Asian bourses closed higher today, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.13% to close at 27,284.52 while South Korea’s Kospi ended 0.05% higher at 2,746.47.

China’s Shanghai Composite index was up 0.67% at 3,452.63 while the CSI300 index fell 0.55% to 4,608.77 points.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.02%, at 24,329.49.