KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed marginally lower on Friday amid quieter regional trading due to Good Friday closures, while Middle East tensions kept investors cautious.
At close, the FBM KLCI fell 2.8 points, or 0.16%, to 1,695.50, weighed down by banking counters. The index traded within a 14.47-point range between its intraday high of 1,708.12 and low of 1,693.65.
For the week, however, the index eked out a 0.3% gain, or 5.14 points.
There were 633 gainers, 415 losers and 522 counters traded unchanged on the Bursa Malaysia. Turnover stood at 3.4 billion shares valued at RM2.9bil.
Reuters reported that Donald Trump vowed more aggressive attacks on Iran, saying the U.S. “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left,” with potential strikes on key infrastructure such as bridges and power plants.
The prolonged conflict is fuelling market volatility, raising fears of wider regional escalation and economic fallout worldwide.
Among the banks, Hong Leong Bank slid 28 sen to RM21.72, while RHB Bank
declined 22 sen to RM8.32 and AmBank lost 20 sen to RM6.30.
Maybank eased 20 sen to RM11.26, CIMB gave up 10 sen to RM7.49 and Public Bank fell 0.5 sen to RM4.66.
Other decliners included F&N, which fell 80 sen to RM28.50, Allianz, which lost 20 sen to RM20.48, and KPJ Healthcare, which slipped 16 sen to RM18.90.
Among the gainers, Nestle jumped RM1.34 to RM100.20, while Kuala Lumpur Kepong added RM1 to RM22.88.
YTL Power gained 31 sen to RM3.51 and PETRONAS Gas climbed 24 sen to RM18.28.
In terms of fund flows, foreign funds and retailers were net buyers, acquiring RM107mil and RM5mil in equities, respectively.
Local institutions were net sellers, offloading RM112 mil.
On the forex market, the ringgit strengthened 0.28% against the US dollar to 4.0285 and inched up 0.14% against the Singapore dollar to 3.1346.
The local currency was up 0.12% against the euro at 4.6508 but fell 0.02% against the pound sterling at 5.3341.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was higher by 0.69%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.26% to 53,123.49 while South Korea’s Kospi closed up 2.74% at 5,377.30.
China's blue-chip CSI300 Index closed 0.85% lower to 4,440.79, while the Shanghai Composite Index eased 1% to 3,880.10.
Financial markets in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and India were shut for the Good Friday holiday, while Taiwan markets were closed for Children’s Day.
