KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI closed lower for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, underperforming most regional markets despite a rebound across Asia.
The 30-stock index slipped 4.02 points, or 0.24%, to close at 1,675.50, after trading between an intraday high of 1,687.93 and a low of 1,675.04.
Decliners outpaced gainers 570 to 533, while 548 counters were unchanged. About 3.76 billion shares, valued at RM2.9bil, changed hands.
Dealers said the local market lagged regional peers as persistent foreign selling and profit-taking in selected heavyweight stocks weighed on sentiment.
They added that investors remained cautious despite an improvement in risk appetite across most Asian markets.
Tanco, the top loser on Bursa Malaysia, remained under heavy selling pressure, plunging 28.57%, or 32 sen, to 80 sen, with 77.96 million shares changing hands.
Other decliners were FACB Industries
, which fell 19 sen to RM1.66, PETRONAS Gas, which shed 18 sen to RM17.32, and Sunway, which lost 12 sen to RM5.13.
Leading the gainers were Nestle, up RM2.44 to RM94.44, Malaysian Pacific Industries, which rose RM1.30 to RM46.80, Ajinomoto, which added RM1.06 to RM15.48, and Concrete Engineering Products, which gained 91 sen to RM4.90.
In terms of fund flows, foreign investors remained net sellers on Monday, offloading RM177mil worth of Malaysian equities.
Local institutions and retail investors cushioned the outflow, recording net purchases of RM130mil and RM47mil, respectively.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported oil prices fell, giving up most of the previous session's gains after Iran and Israel paused attacks, though both sides warned fighting could resume.
Brent crude fell US$1.17 or 1.24%, to US$93.08 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at US$89.71 per barrel, down US$1.59, or 1.74%.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan Index rose 3.03%, with most regional markets rebounding from the previous session’s sell-off.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 2.17% to 65,416.63, while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 8.18% to 8,096.93, marking its biggest one-day percentage gain since May 21.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.37% to 24,565.90. In China, the CSI300 Index gained 1.87% to 4,801.81, while the Shanghai Composite advanced 1.28% to 4,010.03.
