KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Monday as losses in heavyweight stocks dragged the benchmark FBM KLCI lower amid mixed performances across regional markets.
The FBM KLCI closed down 9.16 points, or 0.53%, at 1,722.29. The index traded within a 13.71-point range, between its intraday high of 1,733.76 and low of 1,720.05.
In the broader market, advancers outpaced decliners, with 591 stocks ending higher while 465 closed lower. This gave a market breadth ratio of 1.27, signalling that buying interest remained stronger than selling pressure.
Dealers said selling pressure in selected heavyweight banking and consumer stocks dragged the benchmark lower, with investors locking in gains after recent advances.
Despite the weaker benchmark, they noted that positive market breadth suggested buying interest remained intact, particularly in selected mid- and small-cap counters.
Among the decliners, Nestle fell 78 sen to RM92.66, followed by Hong Leong Financial Group, which lost 48 sen to RM18.34. Hong Leong Bank slipped 20 sen to RM22.24, Maybank shed 18 sen to RM11.02, while RHB Bank
eased 16 sen to RM8.37.
Malaysian Pacific Industries emerged as the top gainer, surging RM1.46 to RM44.66. It was followed by ViTrox, up 41 sen to RM7.69, Westports, which advanced 38 sen to RM6.53, and Panasonic Manufacturing, which added 34 sen to RM5.64.
On the forex market, the ringgit strengthened 0.09% against the US dollar to 4.0922 and edged up 0.07% versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1712.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was lower by 0.4%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 4.03% to 64,141.12 while South Korea’s Kospi closed down 4.46% at 6,516.27.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 2.36% higher at 25,143.05. China’s CSI300 index rose 1.53% to 4,598.32 while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.85% to 3,796.28.
