FBM KLCI breaks below 1,450

KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI closed below the 1,450-point level on Thursday despite the positive market breadth.

The market bellwether fell 3.96 points, or 0.27% to 1,449.58 after hitting its intraday high of 1,455.09.

Market breadth was positive as gainers outpaced losers on a ratio of 530-to-342 stocks. Traded volumes stood at 2.9 billion valued at RM2.2bil.

Among the losers on Bursa Malaysia, Hextar Technologies slid 52 sen to RM23.78, Malaysian Pacific Industries eased 38 sen to RM27.82 and Nestle fell 20 sen to RM130.20.

Batu Kawan gained 24 sen to RM20.38, Kuala Lumpur Kepong added 18 sen to RM21.72, Malpac rose 18 sen to RM1.27 and Malaysia Airports climbed 18 sen to RM7.28.

Among the banks, Maybank added one sen to RM8.84, Public Bank rose three sen to RM4.17, CIMB fell one sen to RM5.69, RHB Bank gained four sen to RM5.69 and AmBank unchanged at RM3.66.

KNM, the most active counter on Bursa Malaysia, ended flat at 10.5 sen with 248.22 million shares done.

Elsewhere in the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was higher by 0.65%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.41% to 33,168.10 while South Korea’s Kospi closed up 1.51% at 2,572.89.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.21% at 18,047.92.

China’s CSI300 index was down 0.08% to 3,733.51 while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.11% to 3,126.55.