KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia retreated for a third straight session on Tuesday, with the benchmark index closing below the 1,700 level as broad-based selling weighed on the market.
The FBM KLCI fell 13.27 points, or 0.77%, to 1,699.06 after trading between an intraday high of 1,711.02 and a low of 1,695.81. All indices on Bursa Malaysia ended in the red.
In the broader market, decliners outpaced advancers, with 786 stocks ending lower and 296 closing higher, resulting in a market breadth of 0.38, indicating that selling pressure dominated. Traded volumes stood at 2.86 billion shares worth RM2.86bil.
Dealers said sentiment remained cautious amid continued regional weakness, prompting investors to stay on the sidelines.
They added that broad-based selling reflected profit-taking and risk-off positioning ahead of key global developments.
Among the decliners, Hong Leong Financial Group slid RM1.30 to RM20.28, Heineken fell 50 sen to RM22.50, Hong Leong Bank lost 44 sen to RM23.86 and Allianz declined 34 sen to RM21.34.
On the other hand, Time Dotcom rose 17 sen to RM5.72, Dutch Lady
added 12 sen to RM31.28, K.Seng Seng gained 10.5 sen to 91.5 sen and Pineapple Resources climbed 10 sen to 85 sen.
ACE Market debutant SBS Nexus closed down one sen to 24 sen with 76.24 million shares traded.
According to data on Bursa Malaysia, foreign investors continued to buy into local stocks on Monday, acquiring RM12mil worth of equities.
Local institutions and retailers sold equities worth RM8mil and RM4mil respectively.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.0542 against the greenback, appreciating 0.01%.
The local currency was down 0.78% against the euro at 4.7497. It fell 0.59% against the pound sterling at 5.4677 and fell 0.23% against the Singapore dollar at 3.1612.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan slipped 0.43%, with most regional markets ending lower.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.11% to 52,991.10, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.39% to 4,885.75 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index eased 0.29% to 26,487.51.
In China, the CSI300 Index lost 0.33% to 4,718.88, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended nearly flat at 4,113.65.
