KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI closed at its intraday low on Tuesday amid cautious sentiment driven by ongoing trade talks and a downward revision of the gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast.
The FBM KLCI closed at its intraday low of 1,523.82, down 5.56 points or 0.36%, after reaching a high of 1,537.62 earlier in the day.
Stocks that fell outnumbered those that rose 603 to 365, with another 506 counters unchanged. A total of 3.36 billion shares changed hands, worth RM2.2bil.
Dealers expect the cautious sentiment on the local bourse to persist, weighed down by lingering uncertainties surrounding the ongoing US-Malaysia trade negotiations as the deadline approaches.
This, along with Bank Negara’s downward revision of the GDP growth forecast, is likely to keep sentiment subdued.
Among the decliners on Bursa Malaysia, Panasonic Manufacturing
slid 36 sen to RM10.52, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 28 sen to RM19.52, Nestle fell 20 sen to RM87.80 and PETRONAS Gas declined 14 sen to RM17.78.
Allianz jumped 40 sen to RM17.70, British American Tobacco added 32 sen to RM4.89, PETRONAS Dagangan gained 26 sen to RM21.70 and PETRONAS Chemicals climbed 18 sen to RM3.79.
ACE Market debutant Oxford Innotech jumped 32.76%, or 9.5 sen, to 38.5 sen with 101.55 million shares traded.
Meanwhile, stock market data showed that foreign investors sold a net RM103mil on Monday. Local institutions and retailers were net buyers, with RM67mil and RM37mil, respectively.
On the forex market, the ringgit was down 0.09% against the greenback at 4.2347. It rose 0.46% against the pound to 5.6497, and 0.13% against the Singapore dollar at 3.2901.
On the external front, major regional indexes ended mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 closing down 0.79% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipping 0.15%.
South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.66%, while China’s CSI 300 Index climbed 0.39% and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.33%.
