KUALA LUMPUR: The upcoming holidays did little to spur on local shares as they ended on a downbeat note.
The FBM KLCI closed down 1.2 points, or 0.08% to 1,454.38 after moving between its intraday high of 1,457.86 and low of 1,451.99. For the week, the benchmark index fell 8.07 points, or 0.55%.
Gainers and decliners were closely balanced, with 411 gainers against 425 losers and 484 that were flat. A total of 2.96 billion shares changed hands, worth RM1.84bil in all.
Among the losers, Allianz fell 14 sen to RM18.66, Imaspro lost 14 sen to RM4.21, Hong Leong Financial Group declined 12 sen to RM16.28 and Far East gave up 10 sen to RM3.50.
Rapid surged RM2.10 to RM29.50, Heineken jumped 46 sen to RM24.24, Carlsberg added 20 sen to RM19.62 and Kelington Group gained 17 sen to RM2.07.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.6315 against the greenback, appreciating 0.5%.
The local currency was down 0.07% against the euro at 5.0969. It fell 0.03% against the pound sterling at 5.8807 and rose 0.04% against the Singapore dollar at 3.4976.
Among the key regional markets:
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 0.08% to 33,169.05;
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.69% to 16,340.41;
Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.13% to 2,914.78;
Taiwan’s Taiex advanced 0.3% to 17,596.63;
South Korea’s Kospi closed down 0.02% to 2,599.51 and;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.86% to 3,139.16 points.
