KUALA LUMPUR: The benchmark FBM KLCI ended easier on Thursday in range-bound trading as investors took some profits off the table.
Dealers said investors were staying at the sideline, adopting a “wait-and-see” attitude ahead of the Budget 2018 announcement on Friday.
At 5pm, the 30-stock index closed at 1,736.80, down 2.25 points. The market traded within a range of 5.91 points between an intra-day high of 1,740.84 and a low of 1,734.93 during the session. The local bourse opened 1.53 points higher at 1,740.58 this morning.
In the broader market, there were 420 stocks advancing against 383 stocks declining while 421 counters unchanged. About 2.52 billion shares, valued at RM2.12bil, changed hands.
On Bursa Malaysia, Aeon Credit
was the top gainer, up 32 sen to RM13.74, Edaran rose 24 sen to 76.5 sen while Perstima added 18 sen to RM5.72.
Top losers on Bursa Malaysia included British American Tobacco, which fell 42 sen to RM40.78 while Batu Kawan declined 20 sen to RM19.80.
IHH Healthcare dragged the index down 1.8933 points. It closed 14 lower at RM5.65. CIMB and Petronas Chemicals eased five sen each to RM6.05 and RM7.40 respectively.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported oil steadied near US$52 a barrel as an increase in US crude supplies was countered by a plunge in gasoline inventories, showing the rebalancing of the global market remains a slow process.
Crude inventories climbed by 856,000 barrels last week while gasoline supplies lost 5.47 million, the first drop since mid-September, according to the Energy Information Administration. In Riyadh, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman backed the extension of OPEC production cuts beyond March 2018.
Elsewhere in the region, most Asian markets were trading in green. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.15% to 21,739.78, CSI300 index added 0.42%, to 3,993.58 while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.31% to 3,407.57 points.
Hang Seng Index, however, fell 0.36% to 28,202.38 points. South Korean’s Kospi closed down 0.48% to 2,480.63 points.
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