KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Monday as selling pressure swept across the market, with more than 700 counters ending in negative territory.
The FBM KLCI declined 1.6 points, or 0.1%, to 1,670.02 after trading within a 5.5-point range, between an intraday high of 1,674.11 and a low of 1,668.61.
Market breadth was negative, with 748 losers outpacing 388 gainers, while 518 counters were unchanged. Turnover stood at 3.12 billion shares worth RM2.41bil.
Dealers said the broader market came under selling pressure in tandem with weakness across most regional bourses, while investors remained cautious amid a lack of fresh domestic catalysts.
The FBM KLCI, however, saw relatively modest losses as gains in selected banking heavyweights helped cushion the decline.
Malaysian Pacific Industries
tumbled RM1.98 to RM42.20, emerging as the top loser on Bursa Malaysia. United Plantations fell 98 sen to RM31.60, F&N slid 78 sen to RM22.22, Kelington lost 27 sen to RM8.72, while Heineken declined 26 sen to RM13.56.
Among the gainers, Hong Leong Bank rose 22 sen to RM23.36, Hong Leong Financial Group gained 18 sen to RM18.90, Ayer added 12 sen to RM7.60, while Grand Central Enterprises and APM Automotive advanced 11 sen to 42 sen and 10 sen to RM2.80, respectively.
ACE Market debutant Evocom was among the most actively traded counters, plunging 27.78%, or five sen, to 13 sen on 71.76 million shares.
On the forex market, the ringgit weakened 0.26% against the US dollar to 4.0845 and edged down 0.22% versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1948.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was lower by 1.16%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.73% to 65,877.62 while South Korea’s Kospi closed down 2.7% at 6,889.74.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended 0.54% higher at 24,642.51 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.49% to 5,739.01.
China’s CSI300 index fell 2.22% to 4,340.76, its biggest loss in five weeks, while the Shanghai Composite eased 1.67% to 3,823.62.
