KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Wednesday, snapping two days of gains, as cautious sentiment and mixed regional markets weighed on the benchmark index.
The FBM KLCI closed 7.07 points, or 0.42%, lower at 1,676.43 after trading between 1,675.15 and 1,685.37.
In the broader market, decliners outpaced advancers, with 549 stocks ending lower while 519 closed higher. This gave a market breadth of 0.95, signalling a slight negative bias. Trading volume stood at 3.20 billion shares valued at RM2.99bil.
Dealers said the pullback was largely due to profit-taking after two days of gains, with investors remaining cautious amid mixed regional markets.
They expect trading to stay range-bound in the near term as investors monitor external developments and look for fresh domestic catalysts.
On Bursa Malaysia, Malaysian Pacific Industries
emerged as the top gainer, surging RM1.38 to RM44.58. It was followed by Nestle, up 34 sen to RM89.50, KESM, which advanced 32 sen to RM4.33, and Ayer, which added 27 sen to RM7.47.
Among the decliners, Dutch Lady eased 50 sen to RM30.40, Heineken slid 42 sen to RM13.40, Hong Leong Industries fell 34 sen to RM16.72 and United Plantations declined 34 sen to RM33.20.
Foreign investors and retail investors were net buyers of Malaysian equities at RM20mil each on Tuesday, while local institutions were net sellers to the tune of RM40mil.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that oil prices stayed near two-week lows on Wednesday amid improving Gulf crude supplies and hopes for a diplomatic solution to the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Brent crude rose 29 cents to US$99.54 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at US$90.10 per barrel, down 42 cents.
Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index rose 0.23%, with regional bourses finishing mixed.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.38% higher at 65,018.95, while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.9% to 7,080.92.
China’s CSI300 Index closed 0.6% lower at 4,517.28, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4% to 3,936.52.
