KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI staged a brief rebound but slipped into the red by the close on Tuesday, bucking the regional trend, following Monday’s selloff that sent the index to its lowest point in 16 months, battered by heavy selling.
The 30-stock index fell a negligible 0.24 of-a-point, or 0.02% to 1,443.56, recovering from its intraday low of 1,440.89.
Across the broader market, advancers outnumbered decliners 669 to 367, with 3.32 billion shares worth RM2.83bil transacted.
Dealers noted that yesterday's selloff has created bargain-hunting opportunities for some of the battered stocks, although the market remains cautious.
Among the gainers, PETRONAS Dagangan jumped RM1 to RM18.32, Heineken added 46 sen to RM25.96, HeiTech Padu gained 33 sen to RM2.12 and Hong Leong Industries rose 28 sen to RM13.24.
Conversely, Dutch Lady
slid 80 sen to RM28.20, Kuala Lumpur Kepong fell 74 sen to RM19.08, Malaysian Pacific Industries lost 64 sen to RM14.02 and PETRONAS Gas declined 58 sen to RM15.74.
Among the banks, Maybank lost 12 sen to RM9.88, CIMB gained six sen to RM6.68, Public Bank added one sen to RM4.22, RHB Bank lost one sen to RM6.48 and Hong Leong Bank climbed six sen to RM19.38.
Meanwhile, foreign investors stepped up their selling activity on Monday, offloading RM1.06bil worth of equities.
Local institutions and retailers were net buyers, with RM875mil and RM186mil, respectively.
On the forex market, the ringgit fell 0.22% against the greenback to 4.4908, while it gained 0.12% against the Singapore dollar, reaching 3.2330.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 6.03%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.51%, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.26%, China’s CSI 300 Index closed 1.71% higher while the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.58%.
