KUALA LUMPUR: The local bourse ended marginally higher on Monday, in line with regional gains, as a lack of strong catalysts kept investor sentiment subdued.
The FBM KLCI ended 1.88 points higher, or 0.12%, at 1,519.99, after trading between an intraday high of 1,521.38 and a low of 1,512.26.
There were significantly more decliners than gainers on the market, with 613 stocks falling compared to 321 gainers, while 509 counters remained unchanged. Total trading volume stood at 2.84 billion shares, with a value of RM2.05bil.
On Bursa Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Kepong was the day's top gainer, rising 42 sen to RM20.12. Other top gainers included Westports, which added 36 sen to RM5.03 and PPB, which gained 34 sen to RM10.98.
Nestle was the top loser on Bursa Malaysia, tumbling RM1.10 to RM72.72. Ayer declined 50 sen to RM6.70, Hong Leong Financial Group fell 32 sen to RM16.04, and Carlsberg lost 32 sen to RM19.26.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.2448 against the US dollar, up 0.023%, but slipped 0.17% to 3.3155 against the Singapore dollar.
Major indices across the region closed higher, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising 1.26% and South Korea’s Kospi climbing 1.8%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.7%, while China’s CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite Indexes rose 0.25% and 0.35%, respectively.
