KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI closed lower on Thursday as investors' sentiment remained negative as investors awaited the gross domestic product (GDP) data.
At 5pm, the benchmark index fell 6.11 points, or 0.42% to 1,464.64, its lowest since Dec 21, 2022.
Market breadth was negative with 365 securities ending in the green against 522 that closed weaker. Turnover stood at 3.6 billion shares worth RM2.19bil.
Amongst the biggest decliners of the day were Malaysian Pacific Industries
, which fell 68 sen to RM34.20, BAT, which lost 60 sen to RM12.20, Carlsberg, which eased 48 sen to RM24.12, and Heineken, which declined 46 sen to RM29.
Scientex Packaging rose 24 sen to RM2.74, Chin Hin added 21 sen to RM4.22, DKSH gained 20 sen to RM4.80 and Ayer climbed 15 sen to RM6.70.
Among the banks, Maybank fell two sen to RM8.62, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.13, CIMB rose three sen to RM5.37, RHB Bank eased three sen to RM5.48, Hong Leong Bank lost 10 sen to RM19.90 and AmBank declined five sen to RM3.87.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.3147 against the greenback, down 0.38%.
The local currency was down 0.34% against the euro at 4.6387. It fell 0.52% against the pound sterling at 5.2294 and fell 0.39% against the Singapore dollar at 3.2618.
Regional markets closed mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 0.08% lower at 27,584.35 while South Korea’s closed up 3.6% at 2,481.52.
Hong Kong Hang Seng delivered a 1.6% gain to settle at 21,624.36, while China’s Shanghai Composite was up 1.18% to 3,270.38.
