KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia settled in the negative territory on Wednesday on lack of buying momentum amid a weak broader market.
At 5pm, the FBM KLCI fell 9.26 points, or 0.59% to 1,564.76 after moving between an intraday high of 1,573.66 and a low of 1,564.54.
Losers outpaced gainers 716 to 297, while 442 counters were unchanged. About 5.21 billion shares, valued at RM2.78bil, changed hands.
KLCI-component stocks were mostly in red, with 18 decliners, four gainers and eight counters closed unchanged.
OM Holdings was the top gainer on Bursa Malaysia, rising 84 sen to RM3.67. Genetec rose 71 sen to RM6.32 while Pekat added 49.5 sen to 81.5 sen.
Jade Marvel fell 19 sen to 81 sen, Comfort Glove lost 16 sen to RM2 and KESM shed 16 sen to RM10.90.
Among the heavyweights, Tenaga lost 11 sen to RM9.93, Axiata shed seven sen to RM3.94, Petronas Gas fell six sen to RM15.78, Genting declined four sen to RM5.13 and Public Bank slipped one sen to RM4.19.
RHB Bank added three sen to RM5.39. PPB, Petronas Chemicals and Press Metal
rose two sen each to RM18.42, RM8 and RM4.80 respectively.
Meanwhile, oil rose above US$73 a barrel after an industry report pointed to another decline in US crude stockpiles.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at US$73.44 per barrel, up 59 cents while Brent crude oil futures were up 81 cents at US$75.62 a barrel.
Elsewhere in the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.79%.
South Korea’s Kospi closed up 0.38%, at 3,276.19 while Japan’s Nikkei ended 0.03% lower at 28,874.89.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 1.79%, at 28,817.07.
China’s CSI300 gained 0.5% to 5,147.39 while Shanghai Composite Index was 0.25% higher at 3,566.22 points.
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