KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — Bursa Malaysia closed lower today, dragged by selling in heavyweights led by Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK).

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 14.62 points to 1,555.51 from yesterday’s close of 1,570.13.

The benchmark index, which opened 0.58 of-a-point lower at 1,569.55, moved between 1,548.89 and 1,573.18 throughout the day.

In the broader market, losers thumped gainers 716 to 339, while 424 counters were unchanged, 789 untraded and 16 others suspended.

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Turnover rose to 4.66 billion units worth RM3.01 billion from 4.01 billion units worth RM2.40 billion yesterday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said Malaysian equities ended lower amid mixed sentiment, similar to the performance of regional markets as investors awaited the latest US inflation data.

“The FBM KLCI reversed earlier gains and ended lower for the fourth consecutive day, losing 0.93 per cent with heavy selling in banking stocks.

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“Nonetheless, with buying support from foreign funds, we believe the benchmark index to be well supported at current levels,” he told Bernama.

He said at present valuations, some bargain hunting activities were expected to emerge and the FBM KLCI was anticipated to hover in the 1,560-1,580 range for the rest of the week.

At the close, 20 of the FBM KLCI’s 30 component stocks were lower, while seven counters chalked up gains and three others were flat.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank shed one sen to RM8.29, Public Bank fell six sen to RM4.00, Petronas Chemicals dropped seven sen to RM7.92 and Press Metal Aluminium slipped 23 sen to RM5.58.

Of the actives, Kanger International lost half-a-sen to 5.5 sen, while KNM Group, Avillion and Serba Dinamik erased one sen each to 27 sen, 14.5 sen and 36 sen, respectively.

Top losers included KLK which tumbled 42 sen to RM20.42, followed by Hong Leong Bank which lost 34 sen to RM18.46 and Aeon Credit Service which dipped 28 sen to RM11.82.

Among the top gainers, Nestle expanded 80 sen to RM134.80, D&O Green Technologies bagged 40 sen to RM5.55, and Daibochi improved 30 sen to RM2.69.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index fell 86.51 points to 11,394.80, the FBMT 100 Index was 84.89 points lower at 11,087.80, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 78.57 points to 12,491.04.

The FBM 70 declined 39.20 points to 14,959.42 while the FBM ACE narrowed 79.82 points to 7,139.29.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index shed 78.68 points to 6,502.39, the Industrial Products and Services Index went down 2.70 points to 197.94, and the Financial Services Index declined 173.73 points to 15,199.82.

The Main Market volume increased to 2.79 billion shares worth RM2.67 billion from yesterday’s 2.41 billion shares worth RM2.05 billion.

Warrants turnover rose to 430.28 million units valued at RM65.47 million compared to 378.50 million units valued at RM62.16 million previously.

Volume on the ACE Market improved to 1.41 billion shares worth RM282.02 million from 1.17 billion shares worth RM289.66 million yesterday.    

Consumer products and services accounted for 616.06 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (954.72 million), construction (126.57 million), technology (219.88 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (87.15 million), property (152.03 million), plantation (47.38 million), REITs (8.40 million), closed/fund (11,400), energy (354.01 million), healthcare (92.31 million), telecommunications and media (49.71 million), transportation and logistics (62.42 million) and utilities (18.05 million). — Bernama