KUALA LUMPUR: Late selling in blue chips dragged the FBM KLCI below the 1,600 level, a day after it touched the mark, mirroring weakness across regional markets.
The benchmark FBM KLCI fell 20.86 points, or 1.3%, to 1,581.59, its intraday low, with 22 component stocks ending lower and only four posting gains. Today’s drop is the steepest since the index fell 2.98% on April 9.
All indices on Bursa Malaysia were down except the Bursa Malaysia Energy Index.
Market breadth was negative, with losers outnumbering gainers 635 to 407. With about 1.6 stocks declining for every one that advanced, bearish sentiment persisted as selling pressure weighed on the broader market.
PPB Group contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 6.58%, or 58 sen to RM8.23.
PETRONAS Chemicals provided the biggest boost to the index and had the largest gain, advancing 3.76%, or 17 sen to RM4.69.
Sime Darby, the most active counter, fell 2.41%, or four sen with 326.41 million shares traded.
Other losers included F&N, which slid RM1.02 to RM26.18, PETRONAS Dagangan, down 80 sen to RM22, Heineken, off 58 sen to RM20.88, and Nestlé, 50 sen lower at RM92.50.
Among the gainers were Allianz, which rose 40 sen to RM18.30, Ajinomoto, up 28 sen to RM13.22, D&O, 15 sen higher at RM1.30, and Hong Leong Industries, which added 12 sen to RM12.70.
On the forex market, the ringgit slipped 0.26% to 4.2185 against the US dollar and eased 0.02% to 3.2794 against the Singapore dollar.
It rose 0.39% to 4.9004 against the euro but edged down 0.03% to 5.6789 against the pound sterling.
Elsewhere in the region, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.97%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1.18%, and South Korea’s Kospi edged down 0.09%.
China’s CSI300 eased 0.37%, while the Shanghai Composite ended 0.39% lower.
