KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia retreated on Thursday, tracking weaker regional markets, although buying interest emerged in select blue-chip stocks.
The FBM KLCI ended down 7.26 points, or 0.43%, at 1,669.57 after trading between an intraday high of 1,674.44 and a low of 1,666.34.
Market breadth was mixed, with 579 gainers, 489 decliners and 565 counters ending the session unchanged on Bursa Malaysia. Overall turnover was active, with 2.8 billion shares traded for a value of RM2.84bil.
A dealer said the local market came under mild selling pressure as investors tracked weaker regional sentiment, although buying interest helped cushion losses in selected blue-chip counters.
He added that sentiment remained cautious amid ongoing global uncertainties, keeping overall upside limited.
Leading the gainers on Bursa Malaysia was United Plantations, which surged RM1.68 to RM33.12. Hong Leong Financial Group advanced 40 sen to RM19.36, while Ayer added 40 sen to RM7.40 and Malaysian Pacific Industries
rose 40 sen to RM32.40.
Among the decliners, Nestle slid RM1 to RM121, F&N fell 38 sen to RM35.70, Bintulu Port lost 20 sen to RM5.30 and PETRONAS Gas declined 18 sen to RM18.20.
Foreign investors were net buyers of RM80mil worth of equities on Wednesday.
Local institutions and retailers were net sellers, offloading RM58mil and RM23mil respectively.
Meanwhile, the ringgit weakened 0.12% against the US dollar to 4.0635 and edged up 0.04% against the Singapore dollar to 3.1645.
The local currency slipped 0.01% against the euro to 4.7424 but strengthened 0.28% against the pound sterling to 5.4611.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index fell 0.74%, with most regional markets closing lower.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 1.63% to 51,117.26, while South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.03% to 4,552.37.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.17% to 26,149.31, while China’s CSI 300 declined 0.82% to 4,737.65 and the Shanghai Composite Index eased 0.07% to 4,082.98.
