KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI ended in the red for the third consecutive session due to a lack of market-moving factors.
At 5pm, the market's key barometer lost 4.28 points or 0.27% to finish at 1,585.38 after hitting an intraday low of 1,582.35.
Sellers led buyers by 838 to 308, while 442 counters traded unchanged. Volume was 5.23 billion shares, valued at RM3.7bil.
According to data on Bursa Malaysia, foreign investors sold RM164mil worth of equities on Monday.
Local institutions and retailers acquired equities worth RM79mil and RM85mil respectively.
“Fresh leads are still few and in-between and this could prompt more profit-taking actions as market players may opt to lock in some of the gains from the FBM KLCI’s rally since the start of the year.
“Although the recent consolidation has provided some bargains, fresh buying interest is still elusive due to the increasingly cautious market undertone,” Inter-Pacific Research said.
Among the losers on Bursa Malaysia, Nestle slid 50 sen to RM122.50, PETRONAS Gas fell 30 sen to RM18.04, Notion lost 26 sen to RM2.06 and PETRONAS Dagangan declined 26 sen to RM17.20.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong, the top gainer on Bursa Malaysia, jumped 54 sen to RM20.98. Tenaga Nasional added 28 sen to RM14, Dutch Lady
gained 20 sen to RM36.02 and Hong Leong Financial Group climbed 14 sen to RM17.20.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was quoted at 4.7058, up 0.15% against the US dollar.
The local currency was up 0.06% against the euro at 5.0501. It fell 0.1% against the pound sterling at 5.9764 and rose 0.1% against the Singapore dollar at 3.4792.
US West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude fell one cent each to US$81.62 and US$86 per barrel respectively.
Asian bourses closed broadly higher today with Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.95%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.35%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed up 0.25% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.44%.
