KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Bursa Malaysia gave up earlier gains to slip marginally lower as the key index struggled to stay in the green for most of the trading session, amid a mixed performance in regional markets.

At the 5pm close, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) trimmed 0.89 of-a-point to 1,454.09 due to mild selling in heavyweights, particularly the financial services and plantation counters, compared with yesterday’s close of 1,454.98.

The key index opened 2.98 points higher at 1,457.96 and fluctuated between 1,452.28 and 1,459.86 throughout the day.

However, the broader market remained positive with gainers surpassing losers 505 to 325, while 395 counters were unchanged, 1,136 untraded, and 24 others suspended.

Turnover decreased to 2.53 billion units valued at RM1.87 billion versus 2.61 billion units valued at RM1.80 billion on yesterday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the mixed regional and overnight Wall Street performance and caution over the European Central Bank’s (ECB) interest rate path had put investors in a cautious mode.

The markets are expecting the ECB to raise its interest rate to a 13-year high, he said.

"Amid this stance, local market investors seem to continue seeking refuge in the energy, property, and construction sectors,” Thong said, adding there was also strong support from local institutions in selected stocks.

"We anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within a wider range of 1,440-1,470 points,’’ he told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Tenaga Nasional dipped eight sen to RM8.29, Axiata eased five sen to RM2.76, Sime Darby Plantation fell six sen to RM4.44, and KLK was 22 sen weaker at RM22.20.

On the other hand, Maxis went up 11 sen to RM3.80, Dialog was 10 sen higher at RM2.01, CIMB rose five sen to RM5.60, and Top Glove added two sen to 77.5 sen.

Newly-listed Betamek, which topped the most active list, declined 13 sen to 58 sen, Careplus was flat at 44.5 sen, Velesto increased by one sen to 12.5 sen, while UEMS perked up 1.5 sen to 21 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index rose 16.03 points to 10,313.57, the FBM 70 gained 74.86 points to 12,251.16, and the FBMT 100 Index increased 9.56 points to 10,053.59.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index went up 20.62 points to 10,346.73, while the FBM ACE decreased 5.85 points to 4,863.19.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index climbed 12.87 points to 16,479.91 and the Energy Index edged up 18.03 points to 701.67, while the Industrial Products and Services Index improved 0.41 of-a-point to 175.37, and the Plantation Index lost 22.44 points to 6,919.05.

The Main Market volume rose to 1.57 billion shares worth RM1.51 billion from 1.50 billion shares worth RM1.35 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover dwindled to 252.22 million units worth RM47.07 million from 351.83 million units worth RM54.23 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume declined to 722.08 million shares worth RM317.14 million from 796.21 million shares worth RM392.44 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 167.63 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (359.04 million), construction (63.17 million), technology (130.98 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (63.45 million), property (170.27 million), plantation (33.25 million), REITs (8.74 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (240.14 million), healthcare (245.16 million), telecommunications and media (31.47 million), transportation and logistics (29.71 million), and utilities (13.40 million). — Bernama