KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Monday with over 500 counters ending in the red, in line with the weak sentiment in regional markets.
At 5pm, the KLCI was down 9.54 points or 0.67% to 1,419.00. Turnover stood at 2.79 billion shares valued at RM1.8bil.
The broader market was weaker as decliners beat advancers 529 losers to 325 gainers and 416 counters unchanged.
Dealers said investors took some profit as concerns over interest rates re-emerged as the US Federal Reserve will release minutes of the May meeting this week.
The U.S. Federal Reserve will hold its key interest rate steady this year despite an expected recession, according to a Reuters poll of economists, who also said the risk of a U.S. default over the debt ceiling was higher compared to prior stand-offs.
According to MIDF Research, foreign investors remained net sellers on Bursa Malaysia for the fifth consecutive week with net foreign outflows amounting to RM211.0mil.
Local institutional investors remained net buyers for the fourth consecutive week to the tune of RM355.6mil while local retailers offloaded RM144.6mil worth of equities last week.
Among the losers on Bursa Malaysia, Heineken lost 60 sen to RM27.36, Malaysian Pacific Industries
fell 40 sen to RM25.30, PPB eased 28 sen to RM16.10 and Greatech Technology declined 26 sen to RM 3.88.
Hextar Technologies surged RM1.04 to RM24, Rapid jumped RM1.02 to RM20, Pertama Digital added 18 sen to RM2.68 and Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 14 sen to RM22.80.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.9%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.76%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.39% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed up 1.17%.
