KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI fell below the crucial 1,500 level on Monday as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the gross domestic product (GDP) data this week.
The benchmark index closed down 5.52 points, or 0.37% to 1,496.03, with 20 of the component stocks closing in negative territory.
Overall market sentiment remained tepid as there were few domestic leads. There were 323 gainers, 464 losers and 410 counters traded unchanged. Turnover stood at 2.19 shares worth RM1.32bil.
Among the FBM KLCI component stocks, PETRONAS Dagangan shed 18 sen to RM22.22, MISC lost 12 sen to RM7.11 Tenaga fell 12 sen to RM8.35 and Hong Leong Financial Group eased 10 sen to RM19.24.
Nestle surged RM1.60 to RM136.80, Inari added three sen to RM2.95, CIMB gained three sen to RM5.28 and RHB Bank climbed two sen to RM5.90.
On the broader market, Malaysian Pacific Industries
lost 48 sen to RM32.40, PMBTech-WA eased 21 sen to RM2.50, KESM fell 21 sen to RM7.32 and Sam Engineering shed 21 sen to RM4.23.
Meanwhile, Brent crude oil fell 54 cents to US$94.38 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate crude lost 54 cents to US$88.47 per barrel.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was lower by 0.37%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.26% to 28,249.24 while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.09% to 2,493.10.
China’s CSI300 index fell 0.2% to 4,148.07, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3% to 3,236.93 points.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.8% to 20,045.77 while Singapore’s Straits Times Index closed down 0.36% to 3,270.98.
