KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia finished lower on Monday with over 600 counters ending in the red, in line with the weak sentiment in regional markets.
At 5pm, the KLCI was down 2.29 points, or 0.15% to 1,536.98. The index hit an intraday high of 1,537.92 and low of 1,518.84.
Market breadth turned negative as losers overpowered the gainers on a ratio of 653-to-381 stocks. Traded volumes stood at 3.81 billion shares worth RM2.8bil.
In today’s session, the KLCI-component stocks were overwhelmingly negative, with 20 losers and nine gainers while one traded unchanged.
Stock market data showed foreign funds and retailers were net sellers at RM318mil and RM16mil respectively on Monday. Local institutions were net buyers at RM334mil.
Dealers said a bout of profit taking sent many stocks lower today. They expect trading to remain cautious ahead of Bank Negara’s decision on the overnight policy rate (OPR) on March 7.
Among the losers on Bursa Malaysia, Nestle slid RM1.50 to RM119.50, United Plantations fell 74 sen to RM23.26, F&N lost 58 sen to RM28.26, Kuala Lumpur Kepong eased 42 sen to RM21.90.
On the other hand, Ajinomoto jumped 78 sen to RM18.26, Bintulu Port added 23 sen to RM5.88, Genting rose 20 sen to RM4.89 and HeiTech Padu gained 17 sen to RM1.92.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was lower by 0.97%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed down 0.03% to 40,097.63 while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.93%, at 2,649.40.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 2.61% at 16,162.64.
China’s CSI300 index edged up 0.7% to 3,565.51, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.28% higher at 3,047.79 points.
