KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — Share prices on Bursa Malaysia closed slightly lower amid weaker sentiment on regional bourses, dealers said.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI), however, ended trading flat at 1,860.43 after hovering between 1,853.31 and 1,861.61 through the day.

A dealer said most Asian stocks were affected by a weaker Wall Street as jitters over the valuation of technology companies contributed to a sharp drop in Japan’s benchmark Nikkei.

“The dive overnight in US Internet companies, led by a plunge in Twitter’s share price, added to negative sentiment from tensions in Ukraine, where pro-Russian militants are clashing with military forces in the country’s unstable east,” he said.

Other Asian bourses such as South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.9 per cent to 1,941.96, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.1 per cent to 21,738.66. Shares in Australia, Singapore, China and Taiwan fell while Indonesian and New Zealand shares edged higher.

Market breadth on Bursa Malaysia was negative as losers led gainers by 373 to 365 while 326 counters were unchanged, 552 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Turnover was higher at 1.61 billion shares worth RM1.83 billion, from 1.47 billion shares worth RM1.3 billion yesterday.

On the scoreboard, the Industrial Index rose 1.33 points to 3,176.19, the Finance Index shed 11.44 points to 16,938.29 and the Plantation Index advanced 10.55 points to 9,071.07.

The FBM Emas Index was 7.92 points lower at 12,864.81, the Ace Index jumped 49.99 points to 6,544.88, the FBMT100 Index went down 8.17 points to 12,516.66 and the FBM 70 declined 41.29 points to 13,990.65.

Among actives, Xinghe Holdings added 2.5 sen to 25.5 sen, PDZ Holdings and Nexgram Holdings earned 0.5 sen each to 16.5 sen and 12 sen respectively. Symphony House gained 1 sen to 24.5 sen.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank fell 3 sen to RM9.78, CIMB slipped 2 sen to RM7.33, while Public Bank rose 20 sen to RM20.04 and TNB was 2 sen higher at RM11.94.

Main Market volume was higher at 1.06 billion units worth RM1.71 billion, from yesterday’s 1.03 billion units worth RM1.19 billion.

Turnover on the ACE market advanced to 526.49 million shares valued at RM116.82 million, from 423.26 million shares valued at RM104.72 million recorded yesterday.

Warrants widened to 24.86 million units worth RM2.65 million, from yesterday’s 14.59 million units worth RM1.61 million.

Consumer products accounted for 81 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products 190.09 million, construction 100.17 million, trade and services 417.29 million, technology 61.36 million, infrastructure 12.94 million, SPAC 16.35 million, finance 31.36 million, hotels 2.78 million, properties 118.25 million, plantations 16.69 million, mining nil, REITs 8.35 million and closed/fund 58,100. — Bernama