KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — Bursa Malaysia closed marginally lower today as selling pressure in most indices were cushioned by some buying interest, led by healthcare and financial stocks, amidst mixed regional peers, analysts said.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was 0.05 per cent or 0.78 of-a-point easier at 1,567.44 from 1,568.22 at Friday’s close.

The market bellwether opened 2.48 points higher at 1,570.70, and fluctuated between 1,556.10 and 1,572.60 throughout the day.

The overall market breadth was negative with 637 losers and 317 gainers, while 368 counters were unchanged, 979 untraded, and 13 others suspended.

Total turnover widened to 2.51 billion units valued at RM2.22 billion compared to 2.41 billion units worth RM2.27 billion on Friday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of Equity Research, Thong Pak Leng said after a roller-coaster trading day, investors took profits during the last minutes of trading, particularly in the oil and gas and plantation stocks.

Regionally, key indices were mixed with Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising by 0.58 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and Shanghai’s Stock Exchange Composite Index declined by 4.97 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively, due to Covid-19 resurgence and heavy selldown in technology stocks.

"Back home, cautious sentiments may prevail in view of external factors, nevertheless, we believe the FBM KLCI would be well supported by foreign funds.

"Notwithstanding the heightened volatility, we expect the benchmark index to move in the 1,560-1,580 range for the week, with immediate support at 1,540 and resistance at 1,590,” Thong said to Bernama.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM8.92, Public Bank rose four sen to RM4.44, Petronas Chemicals slipped 11 sen to RM9.59, IHH Healthcare shed one sen to RM6.40, Press Metal lost 22 sen to RM6.28 and CIMB improved 22 sen to RM5.07.

As for the actives, Velesto Energy and Fitters Diversified were down half-a-sen each to 10.5 sen and 16.5 sen, respectively, and Hibiscus Petroleum gave up seven sen to RM1.11.

On the index board, FBM ACE dipped 37.39 points to 5,22.09, FBM 70 narrowed 102.69 points to 12,970.05, FBM Emas Index shed 34.26 points to 11,080.33, FBMT 100 Index slid 22.43 points to 10,794.79, and FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 52.36 points to 11,710.52.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index recovered 7.19 points to 16,257.21, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 2.77 points to 201.92, and the Plantation Index declined 153.80 points to 8,050.90.

The Main Market volume widened to 1.72 billion shares worth RM2.04 billion from 1.55 billion shares valued at RM2.06 billion on Friday.

Warrants turnover expanded to 433.75 million units valued at RM72.63 million against 429.58 million units worth RM63.94 million previously.

The ACE Market volume declined to 352.27 million shares worth RM106.90 million versus 432.33 million shares valued at RM138.94 million on Friday.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 244.46 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (400.84 million), construction (89.58 million), technology (171.87 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (63.69 million), property (98.90 million), plantation (129.08 million), REITs (93.71 million), closed/fund (76,500), energy (255.62 million), healthcare (162.17 million), telecommunications and media (64.40 million), transportation and logistics (14.65 million), and utilities (22.54 million). — Bernama