KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 — Bursa Malaysia finished lower today on last-minute selling in heavyweights.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) moved in positive territory earlier but profit-taking in index-linked counters emerged in the last 10 minutes of trading, pushing the key index to settle at its intraday low.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI fell 1.48 points to end at 1,595.70 compared with yesterday’s close of 1,597.18.

The barometer index moved between 1,595.70 and 1,602.38 throughout the day, after opening 3.92 points better at 1,601.10.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 465 to 445 with 440 counters unchanged, 903 untraded and 27 others suspended.

Total turnover decreased to 3.32 billion units worth RM2.0 billion from 3.54 billion units worth RM2.42 billion yesterday.

Speaking to Bernama, Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the index ended flattish after a roller coaster trading session.

"The benchmark index retreated after hitting an intraday high of 1,602.38 when investors began to take profits,” he said.

Thong said China hinted that it would loosen its monetary policy further and the bond market dialled back bets on aggressive interest rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve causing the Shanghai’s SSE Composite Index to jump 1.22 per cent.

Back home, the FBM KLCI trended in a tight range today due to lack of buying support.

"Market sentiments are still cautious despite the persistent net inflow from foreign funds which topped RM6.9 billion year to date.

"Hence, we expect the FBM KLCI to remain in consolidation mode and hovering within the 1,585-1,600 range towards the weekend,” he added.

Heavyweights Maybank slid one sen to RM8.83, CIMB lost 14 sen to RM5.14, both Public Bank and Petronas Chemicals were flat at RM4.67 and RM10.26, but IHH Healthcare increased eight sen to RM6.52.

Of the actives, Pappajack rose four sen to 52.5 sen, Sapura Energy ticked up half-a-sen to four sen, MNC Wireless slipped half-a-sen to 3.5 sen, while Key Alliance and Permaju were flat at one sen and 8.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 8.83 points to 11,101.57 FBM Emas Index was 8.64 points weaker at 11,454.69, FBM 70 reduced 4.97 points to 13,805.68, while FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 9.57 points to 12,095.39 and the FBM ACE expanded 22.67 points to 5,846.32.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.82 of-a-point to 214.57, the Financial Services Index contracted 53.42 points to 16,679.58, and the Plantation Index weakened 40.67 points to 8,464.91.

The Main Market volume fell to 2.07 billion shares worth RM1.78 billion compared with 2.48 billion shares worth RM2.0 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover expanded to 256.90 million units valued at RM42.18 million against 239.55 million units valued at RM41.68 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume leaped to 996.20 million shares worth RM175.70 million versus 825.48 million shares worth RM195.86 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 677.98 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (450.37 million), construction (199.34 million), technology (138.20 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (58.35 million), property (226.01 million), plantation (46.75 million), REITs (7.56 million), closed/fund (13,500), energy (148.82 million), healthcare (38.89 million), telecommunications and media (28.49 million), transportation and logistics (31.26 million), and utilities (16.82 million). — Bernama