KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia retreated at the close today on profit-taking after yesterday’s gains and as China’s property woes weighed on regional sentiment, with investors also cautious ahead of Malaysia’s third quarter results tomorrow.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 2.16 points to 1,464.68 from yesterday’s closing of 1,466.84.

The index opened 2.06 points easier at 1,464.78 and hit its lowest of 1,460.46 and highest of 1,465.16.

The market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 487 to 419 while 470 counters were unchanged, 1,004 untraded and 24 others suspended.

Turnover narrowed to 3.48 billion units valued at RM2.07 billion from Wednesday’s 3.94 billion units valued at RM2.21 billion.

Asian stocks fell today, pausing the heavy gains made this week, as fresh Chinese data showed prolonged weakness in the property sector and dented some of the recent optimism about a recovery in the world’s second-largest economy, according to a Reuters report.

Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng viewed today’s profit-taking as a positive signal as it allowed the market to digest recent gains.

"Our expectation is for the market undertone to remain stable, supported by significant backing from foreign funds. Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,460-1,470 towards the weekend,” he said.

Another analyst said investors were also closely watching Malaysia’s third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) to be announced tomorrow, with economists projecting 3.2 - 3.3 per cent growth versus 2.9 per cent in the preceding quarter.

Among heavyweight counters, Maybank and IHH were flat at RM9.14 and RM5.98, respectively. Public Bank edged up one sen to RM4.24 while CIMB and Petronas Chemicals dropped two sen to RM5.78 and RM7.33, respectively.

Of the actives, Hong Seng, Kanger International and Leform were unchanged at 4.0 sen, 6.5 sen and 27.5 sen, respectively. Top Glove bagged four sen to 79 sen while Salutica rose seven sen to 86.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index dropped 3.76 points to 10,828.30, the FBMT 100 Index lost 2.88 points to 10,490.95 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 13.90 points to 11,033.40.

The FBM ACE Index shrank 2.37 points to 5,118.81 but the FBM 70 Index climbed 50.89 points to 14,339.70.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index recouped 3.34 points to 16,433.44, the Energy Index edged down 0.90 a point to 861.94 and the Plantation Index slid 15.31 points to 7,006.92. The Industrial Products and Services Index shaved 0.12 of a point to 174.44.

The Main Market volume eased to 2.10 billion units worth RM1.77 billion compared with yesterday’s 2.56 billion units worth RM1.88 billion.

Warrant turnover expanded to 679.98 million units valued at RM91.97 million from 602.85 million units valued at RM86.80 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume was trimmed down to 695.90 million shares worth RM202.66 million from 783.52 million shares worth RM236.45 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 351.64 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (415.14 million); construction (65.56 million); technology (442.55 million); SPAC (nil); financial services (62.26 million); property (155.64 million); plantation (35.77 million); REITs (9.55 million), closed/fund (12,200); energy (98.30 million); healthcare (239.06 million); telecommunications and media (34.48 million); transportation and logistics (47.41 million); and utilities (138.60 million). — Bernama