KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — The Kuala Lumpur stock market gave up early gains to close 0.68 per cent lower today, dipping below the 1,600-point threshold, in tandem with most regional peers, dealers said.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 10.85 points to 1,595.29 from 1,606.14 at yesterday’s close.

The index opened 3.37 points higher at 1,609.51, its intraday high, and hit a low of 1,593.80 in the afternoon session before gaining some steam towards closing.

On the broader market, losers led gainers 622 to 548, while 446 counters were unchanged, 552 untraded and 10 others suspended.

Total volume was lower at 10.13 billion units worth RM5.22 billion compared with 12.59 billion units worth RM5.78 billion yesterday.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said most regional peers recorded losses today amid the strengthening of the US dollar as the US Treasury yields hit a one-year high today.

“Aside from that, the vaccine progress and encouraging economic data have begun to drive an intense investor focus on an inflation pulse, now widely expected,” he told Bernama today.

Investors made a comeback for rubber glove counters in the FBM KLCI, said Adam, which saw Top Glove, Hartalega, and Supermax all recording gains for the day while most of the other stocks were in the red.

“As such, the Bursa Malaysia Healthcare Index closed 1.2 per cent higher today. The Brent crude oil price which continued to remain above US$60 per barrel also boosted the Bursa Malaysia Energy Index up by 2.9 per cent, making it the largest gainer among the indices,” he said.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank eased five sen to RM8.09, Public Bank trimmed three sen to RM4.19, PChem retreated 22 sen to RM7.53, and Tenaga shed four sen to RM9.86.

Meanwhile, Top Glove rose 13 sen to RM6.19, Hartalega gained six sen to RM12.60, Supermax climbed 23 sen to RM6.09, while IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.10.

Of the actives, DGB Asia decreased 3.5 sen to 11 sen while Sapura Energy and Velesto improved 1.5 sen each to 15 sen and 16.5 sen, respectively, Dagang NeXchange added one sen to 55 sen, and Dataprep gained 21 sen to 63 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 66.65 points to 11,683.35, the FBMT 100 Index declined 78.08 points to 11,369.41, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index was 63.90 points lower at 13,118.25.

The FBM 70 slid 108.22 points to 15,330.07 and the FBM ACE fell 85.57 points to 11,266.56.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dipped 94.06 points to 15,095.68, the Industrial Products and Services Index dropped 1.71 points to 182.58, and the Plantation Index slipped 4.56 points to 7,109.7.

The Main Market volume declined to 6.65 billion shares worth RM4.32 billion from 7.68 billion shares worth RM4.64 billion recorded at Tuesday’s close.

Warrants turnover was lower at 294.97 million units valued at RM43.76 million from 358.33 million units valued at RM55.32 million.

Volume on the ACE Market shrank to 3.18 billion shares worth RM854.56 million from 4.55 billion shares worth RM1.08 billion previously.

Consumer products and services accounted for 572.5 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.50 billion), construction (275.24 million), technology (1.57 billion), SPAC (nil), financial services (110.69 million), property (291.56 million), plantations (35.82 million), REITs (13.57 million), closed/fund (21,100), energy (1.93 billion), healthcare (91.26 million), telecommunications and media (61.18 million), transportation and logistics (152.73 million), and utilities (22.94 million). — Bernama