KUALA LUMPUR: The local bourse extended its downtrend on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of a rate decision from major global central banks.
The FBM KLCI closed down 4.26 points, or 0.29% to 1,470.12 after moving between 1,477.29 and 1,469.47 throughout the day.
There were 411 gainers, 485 losers and 388 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 2.69 billion shares valued at RM1.84bil.
The US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and the Bank of England are widely expected to announce rate increase this week.
The Fed is expected to raise rates by 50 basis points at its last meeting of the year.
Newly listed ITMAX closed up 31 sen to RM1.38 with 130.77 million shares traded. The counter opened at RM1.52, representing a 42.06% premium over the initial public offering price of RM1.07.
F&N rose 52 sen to RM22.12, Kotra added 47 sen to RM6.52 and Ajinomoto gained 42 sen to RM11.90.
PPB shed 26 sen to RM17.56, Pineapple Resources fell 22.5 sen to 87.5 sen, Hong Leong Financial Group eased 22 sen to RM18.40, Hextar Technologies declined 18 sen to RM13.02.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.4288, down 0.26% against the US dollar.
US West Texas Intermediate crude rose US$1.14 to US$74.31 and Brent gained US$1.53 to US$79.52 per barrel.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was higher by 0.14%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.4% to 27,954.85 while South Korea’s Kospi closed flat at 2,372.40.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 0.68% higher at 19,596.20.
China’s CSI300 index fell 0.2% to 3,945.68 while the Shanghai Composite eased 0.08% to 3,176.33.
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