Bursa Malaysia ends first trading day of 2024 in red

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended the first trading day of 2024 in the red.

The FBM KLCI retreated 1.56 points, or 0.11% to 1,453.10 after moving between its intraday high of 1,453.56 and low of 1,446.36.

Across the broader market, advancers outnumbered decliners 512 to 463, with 4.91 billion securities worth RM2bil changing hands.

On Bursa Malaysia, the top gainer was Sungei Bagan Rubber. The counter hit limit up, jumping 29.85%, or 97 sen to RM4.22.

Sungei Bagan has proposed to take over all assets and liabilities of Kuchai Development Bhd for RM275.47mil.

Dutch Lady rose 84 sen to RM24, Kluang added 72 sen to RM4.34 and Kuchai gained 37 sen to RM1.62.

Among the decliners, Rapid slid 66 sen to RM27.82, Hextar Technologies lost 38 sen to RM22.12, Imaspro declined 26 sen to RM3.53 and Carlsberg gave up 24 sen to RM19.04.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.6010, down 0.15% against the US dollar.

US West Texas Intermediate crude rose US$1.21 to US$72.86 and Brent gained US$1.41 to US$78.45 per barrel.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.22%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed down 1.52%, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.55%, China’s composite index lost 0.43% and Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 0.27%.