KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — Bursa Malaysia recouped most of its earlier losses to close marginally lower today on profit-taking, said a dealer.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.30 points to end at 1,463.37 from yesterday’s closing of 1,464.67.

The benchmark index opened 0.62 of-a-point easier at 1,464.05 and moved between 1,458.66 and 1,465.55 throughout the trading session.

The broader market was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 517 to 385, while 461 counters were unchanged, 985 untraded and seven others suspended.

Turnover decreased to 3.27 billion units valued at RM2.17 billion from yesterday’s 3.76 billion units valued at RM2.34 billion.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the trend for Malaysian equities remained positive, driven by improving regional sentiment and substantial support from foreign investors.

"Despite profit-taking activities today, we view it as a healthy sign, as it allows the market to absorb the recent uptrend. Consequently, we expect the FBM KLCI to trend higher within the 1,460-1,480 range for the rest of the week, with immediate resistance at 1,465 and support at 1,430,” he told Bernama.

Among heavyweights, Maybank and IHH Healthcare increased four sen each to RM9.15 and RM6.05, respectively, CIMB was flat at RM5.81, Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.24, Petronas Chemicals shed six sen to RM7.28, and TNB declined five sen to RM9.95.

Of the actives, Top Glove rose two sen to 78 sen, Dagang NeXchange rose 1.5 sen to 45.5 sen, EA Technique went up 4.5 sen to 38.5 sen, both Widad and Sarawak Consolidated were flat at 45 sen and 57.5 sen, respectively, and Kanger International slipped 2.5 sen to 9.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index trimmed 7.35 points to 10,802.08, the FBMT 100 Index shed 4.92 points to 10,468.71, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index shaved off 14.78 points to 10,998.11.

The FBM 70 Index advanced 12.52 points to 14,253.33 and the FBM ACE Index decreased 25.34 points to 5,097.53.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.32 of-a-point to 172.85, the Plantation Index dipped 32.79 points to 6,957.86, the Energy Index was 5.59 points firmer at 870.88, and the Financial Services Index climbed 4.01 points to 16,459.83.

The Main Market volume went down to 2.10 billion units worth RM1.91 billion compared with Monday’s 2.59 billion units worth RM2.08 billion.

Warrants turnover fell to 380.13 million units valued at RM53.48 million from 388.59 million units valued at RM49.43 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume was slightly lower at 774.76 million shares worth RM199.73 million from 778.81 million shares worth RM211.14 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 284.81 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (405.54 million); construction (148.50 million); technology (255.49 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (57.70 million); property (224.21 million); plantation (24.36 million); REITs (11.50 million), closed/fund (67,100); energy (123.39 million); healthcare (284.82 million); telecommunications and media (36.83 million); transportation and logistics (131.52 million); and utilities (110.38 million). — Bernama