KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI retreated on Wednesday as profit-taking set in after the previous session’s gains, with cautious sentiment amid a lack of fresh domestic catalysts.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI fell 9.18 points, or 0.53%, to 1,720.42 after trading within a 15.39-point range, with an intraday high of 1,733.84 and a low of 1,718.45.
Market breadth turned negative, with losers outnumbering gainers 617 to 458, giving a breadth ratio of 0.74, signalling that bears maintained the upper hand. Turnover totalled 3.64 billion shares valued at RM3.13bil.
Dealers said the pullback was largely due to profit-taking following the previous session’s gains, amid a lack of fresh domestic catalysts.
They added that lingering uncertainty over developments in the Middle East, including hopes of a potential peace deal, kept investors cautious and capped buying interest.
Among the losers, Hong Leong Industries fell 30 sen to RM17.50, PETRONAS Dagangan lost 26 sen to RM20.30, SAM Engineering slid 21 sen to RM3.97 and Maybank declined 18 sen to RM11.04.
Nestle rose 60 sen to RM102.90, Malaysian Pacific Industries
gained 50 sen to RM38, Allianz-PA climbed 32 sen to RM22 and Bintulu Port added 30 sen to RM5.65.
Meanwhile, oil prices extended a multi-day rally after reports that the U.S. would extend its blockade of Iranian ports.
Brent crude rose US$3.27, or 2.94%, to US$114.53 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained US$2.93, or 2.93%, to US$102.86 per barrel.
On the external front, regional markets were mostly higher, with MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan index rising 0.17%.
South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.75% to a record high of 6,690.90.
In China, the CSI300 rose 1.1% to 4,810.35, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.71% to 4,107.51, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.68% to 26,111.84.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.02% to 59,917.46, while Taiwan’s Taiex declined 0.55% to 39,303.50.
