KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Friday, marking its third day of a losing streak as sentiments remained due to persistent concerns over prospect of U.S. interest rates rising further.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI closed down 14.18 points, or 0.99% at 1,424.98, with 25 out of the 30 constituent counters falling into the red.
On a weekly basis, the benchmark index tumbled 42.33 points, or 2.8%.
Market breadth was negative as losers overpowered the gainers on a ratio of 540-to-278 stocks. Traded volumes stood at 1.84 billion shares valued at RM1.57bil.
Dealers said major central bank events over the week rattled investors. Investor sentiment is expected to remain soft in the short term.
According to data on Bursa Malaysia, foreign investors sold RM123mil worth of equities on Thursday.
Local institutions and retailers acquired equities worth RM78mil and RM46mil respectively.
Among the losers on Bursa Malaysia, Nestle fell 70 sen to RM12.7.70, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 34 sen to RM21.64, Panasonic Manufacturing
lost 32 sen to RM23.56 and Hap Seng shed 30 sen to RM6.13.
Heineken rose 18 sen to RM23.50, Dutch Lady added 10 sen to RM31.20 and Bonia gained 10 sen to RM2.04.
Mulpha International, which received an unconditional voluntary takeover offer of RM2.30 per share, closed 18 sen higher at RM2.28 with 2.55 million shares traded.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.5773 against the greenback, down 0.21%. The local unit opened lower against the US dollar this morning.
Elsewhere in the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was lower by 1.65%.
South Korea’s Kospi closed down 1.81%, at 2,290.0 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.18%, at 17,933.27.
China’s CSI300 index was down 0.34% to 3,856.02 while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.66% at 3,088.37.
Japan's Nikkei was closed for a public holiday marking the autumn equinox.
