KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI recovered from its session low but still finished in the red on Monday, while the ringgit climbed to its strongest level in about two weeks against the US dollar.
The market bellwether ended 1.83 points, or 0.11%, lower at 1,665.91. It traded within a 13.93-point range, between an intraday high of 1,669.21 and a low of 1,655.28.
Decliners beat gainers 554 to 481, with 557 counters unchanged. A total of 2.71 billion shares worth RM2.14bil changed hands.
Dealers said the local market failed to track gains across regional bourses as investors stayed on the sidelines amid the absence of fresh catalysts.
A dealer said buying interest remained selective, with investors preferring to wait for a clearer market direction before taking fresh positions
On Bursa Malaysia, Malaysian Pacific Industries
led the gainers, surging RM2.10 to RM49.10, followed by ViTrox, up 29 sen to RM7.53, Allianz, which gained 26 sen to RM21.60, and Unisem, which rose 25 sen to RM4.77.
Nestle tumbled RM2.42, Kuala Lumpur Kepong lost 34 sen to RM20.96, Hong Leong Bank declined 28 sen to RM21.40 and Hartanah Kenyalang gave up 17.5 sen to 55.5 sen.
ACE Market debutant RT Pastry closed down two sen to 16 sen with 46.05 million shares traded.
On the forex market, the ringgit strengthened 0.41% against the US dollar to 4.0717, its highest in about two weeks and edged up 0.44% versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1467.
Meanwhile, Brent crude oil added 52 cents, or 0.72%, to US$72.51 a barrel while US crude oil futures climbed 84 cents, or 1.21%, to US$70.07 per barrel.
Asian benchmarks finished mostly higher, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 0.15% at 69,468.11, while South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.2% to 8,394.65.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.57% to 23,026.68 and Taiwan’s TAIEX added 0.96% to 44,999.90.
In China, the CSI300 Index added 1.21% to 4,926.92, and the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.16% to 4,073.90.
