KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI closed lower for the third straight session, dragged down by selling in PETRONAS-linked companies.
At closing, the KLCI was down 3.99 points or 0.24% to 1,625.47 after moving between an intra-day high of 1,631.71 and a low of 1,623.64 during the session.
On the broader market, losers outnumbered gainers by 503 to 577 while 497 counters unchanged. Trading volume stood at 3.5 billion units worth RM2.66bil.
The KLCI constituent stocks were predominantly negative, with 19 decliners and only seven gainers.
Among the decliners on Bursa Malaysia, Nestle tumbled RM1.74 to RM96.48, PETRONAS Dagangan slid 64 sen to RM19.82, F&N fell 62 sen to RM27 and Hong Leong Industries lost 22 sen to RM13.88.
Eurospan, the top gainer on Bursa Malaysia jumped 20.96%, or 48 sen to RM2.77. Malaysian Pacific Industries
rose 36 sen to RM25.10, Arka gained 25 sen to RM1.85 and Nationgate climbed 24 sen to RM2.76.
The ringgit, which was the only Asian currency to appreciate in 2024, has fallen by 0.36% against the US dollar to 4.5165.
The local currency fell by 0.51% to 3.3015 against the Singapore dollar and by 0.87% to 5.6315 against the pound sterling.
Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 32 cents to US$73.64 and Brent lost 30 cents to US$76.21 per barrel.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.47%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed down 0.36%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.91%, China’s CSI Index lost 0.16%.
