KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI ended lower on Thursday, reversing earlier gains amid selling pressure and a broader regional market decline.
The benchmark index closed down 2.71 points, or 0.17% at 1,611.16. The index had earlier risen to an intraday high of 1,625.46.
The broader market saw 574 losers outpacing 443 gainers, while 559 counters were unchanged. Trading volume stood at 2.95 billion shares valued at RM2.43bil.
Among the decliners, Nestle tumbled RM2.08 to RM95.90, Mega Fortris shed 71 sen to RM2.74, Malaysian Pacific Industries
lost 64 sen to RM41.50, UTD Plantations declined 32 sen to RM29 and CIMB slipped 22 sen to RM6.89.
Gainers included Allianz, which rose 40 sen to RM19.64, Batu Kawan gained 20 sen to RM19.50, TMK added 18 sen to RM3.15, while Kee Ming and Kobay advanced 13 sen each to RM2.90 and RM2.40, respectively.
Meanwhile, foreign investors net bought RM117mil worth of local equities on Wednesday, while local institutions net sold RM127mil and retail investors net bought RM10mil.
On the forex market, the ringgit strengthened 0.39% against the US dollar to 4.0610 and edged up 0.34% versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1686.
Brent crude fell 88 cents, or 0.76%, to US$114.44 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at US$101.69 per barrel, down US$1.09, or 1.06%.
Regionally, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index fell 0.89%, with most regional markets ending lower.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.1% to 64,659.47, while South Korea’s Kospi closed down 1.24% to 5,937.66.
Taiwan’s Taiex lost 1.42% to 46,368.33, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.59% to 22,958.65.
In China, the CSI300 Index slid 1.03% to 4,041.84, while the Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.82% to 3,651.43.
