KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia remained in the red at Friday’s close, although late buying helped the benchmark index pare some of its earlier losses.
The FBM KLCI gave up 9.18 points, or 0.55%, to 1,665.56 after trading within a 16.04-point range, between an intraday high of 1,677.83 and a low of 1,661.79. For the week, the benchmark index fell about 1.25%.
Gainers outpaced losers 625 to 564, while 505 counters were unchanged. About 4.92 billion shares, valued at RM4.88bil, changed hands.
Dealers said the local market remained cautious despite strong August trade data and gains across most regional markets, as selling pressure in selected index heavyweights dragged the FBM KLCI lower.
Malaysia’s exports surged 45.5% year-on-year to RM191.05bil in August, while total trade jumped 43.4% to RM354.01bil. The country recorded a trade surplus of RM28.09bil.
They noted that trading interest remained broad, with technology and selected construction counters attracting buying interest.
Petronas Dagangan was the top loser, falling RM1 to RM20.08. It was followed by Nestle, down 94 sen to RM89.58, Hong Leong Bank, which slid 56 sen to RM22.54, and PPB Group, which eased 35 sen to RM9.36.
Among the gainers, Malaysian Pacific Industries
surged RM2.70 to RM42.80, Sunway Construction rose 76 sen to RM7.88, Time dotCom advanced 49 sen to RM6.41 and Petronas Gas climbed 34 sen to RM17.50.
In terms of fund flows, foreign investors and retailers were net buyers on Thursday, acquiring equities worth RM37mil and RM70mil, respectively.
Local institutions emerged as net sellers, disposing of RM108mil worth of equities.
On the forex market, the ringgit strengthened 0.42% against the US dollar to 4.0815 and edged up 0.47% versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1965.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan index climbed 1.6%, with most major regional markets closing higher:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 1.38% to 65,018.95;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.6% to 24,750.78;
China’s CSI300 Index advanced 1.06% to 4,507.39;
Taiwan’s Taiex rose 1.93% to 47,180.75;
South Korea’s Kospi surged 2.66% to 6,894.23 and;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.29% to 5,644.06 points.
