KUALA LUMPUR: Profit-taking weighed on the local market, with investor sentiment remaining cautious amid mixed signals from regional markets.
The FBM KLCI fell 5.44 points, or 0.31%, to close at 1,742.82, after rebounding from an intraday low of 1,740.49. It earlier touched a high of 1,751.22.
Market breadth was negative as losers overpowered the gainers on a ratio of 601-to-461 stocks. Traded volumes stood at 2.6 billion shares worth RM2.86bil.
A dealer said sentiment remained cautious as profit-taking capped gains despite firmer regional markets.
The dealer added that trading interest was skewed towards defensive stocks, keeping activity selective.
On Bursa Malaysia, Malaysian Pacific Industries
led the decliners, sliding 56 sen to RM32.50. Other notable losers included PETRONAS Dagangan, which fell 36 sen to RM19.96, Nestlé, down 30 sen to RM111.90, and Pentamaster, which eased 13 sen to RM3.19.
In contrast, United Plantations gained 62 sen to RM29.80, while F&N rose 56 sen to RM35.36. Heineken added 42 sen to RM24.06 and Allianz-PA advanced 26 sen to RM22.42.
In terms of fund flows, foreign investors were net sellers, offloading RM26mil worth of equities, while local retail investors sold RM16mil.
In contrast, local institutions emerged as net buyers, with total purchases amounting to RM41mil.
On the forex front, the ringgit edged up 0.05% to 3.9310 against the US dollar but slipped 0.01% versus the Singapore dollar at 3.0939.
It also weakened against major currencies, falling 0.28% against the euro to 4.6512 and shedding 0.42% versus the pound sterling to 5.3959.
On the external front, Asian markets were mostly higher, with South Korea’s Kospi gaining 1.57%, although Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.78%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was flat at 0.05%, while China’s CSI300 and Shanghai Composite rose 0.83% and 0.85% respectively.
