KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 — Bursa Malaysia, which closed mixed today, ended the week on a negative note weighed by last-minute selling in selected index-linked stocks led by Petronas Chemicals, dealers said.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,574.67 points, down by 2.74 points, after hovering between 1,557.01 and 1,583.38 throughout the day.

Among the leading movers in the composite index's component stocks were Petronas Chemicals which fell 12 sen to RM5.58, Genting lost 14 sen to RM7.04, Public Bank (-18 sen to RM17.70) and Sime Darby (-7.0 sen to RM7.61).

Petronas Dagangan topped the gainers list, rising 50 sen to RM20.32.

A dealer said the local bourse was traded lower in the earlier session but rebounded towards the end of the morning session, boosted by gains in selected heavyweights.

It ended lower on last-minute selling.

Market sentiments remained fragile as Asian stock markets tumbled further on mounting concerns over China's slowing economy, sparking jitters across global markets, said the dealer.

A survey on China's manufacturing sector saw it slumping to a six-and-a-half-year low in August as domestic and export demand dwindled, adding to worries over the world's second largest economy, he said.

Meanwhile, uncertainties surrounding the timing of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike as well as lower commodities prices also continued to dominate sentiments, he added.

Among regional peers, Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 2.98 per cent to 19,435.83, Hang Seng slipped 1.53 per cent to 22,409.62, Kospi Index was down 2.01 per cent to 1,876.07, the Straits Times Index lost 1.09 per cent to 2,977.10 and the Shanghai Composite dropped 4.69 per cent to 3,492.45.

Market breadth was negative with losers leading gainers by 470 to 330, while 326 counters remained unchanged, 674 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Total volume was unchanged at 1.79 billion units, valued at RM2.13 billion compared with RM1.77 billion yesterday.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index was 22.84 points lower at 10,794.97, FBMT100 Index fell 18.34 points to 10,529.77 and the FBM Emas Syariah eased 2.01 points to 11,189.89.

The FBM Ace fell 25.62 points to 5,210.73 and the FBM 70 declined 20.15 points to 11,536.19.

On a sectoral basis, the Finance Index tumbled 109.86 points to 14,132.32, Industrial Index fell 8.55 points to 3,026.49 but the Plantation Index gained 19.25 points to 6,869.39.

Among actives, AirAsia shed four sen to 97 sen, KNM lost two sen to 45.5 sen and SapuraKencana fell six sen to RM1.63.

Tiger Synergy and Frontken were flat at 9.5 sen and 19 sen respectively.

Main Market volume fell to 934.92 million units worth RM1.92 billion from 959.79 million units worth RM1.57 billion on Thursday.

Turnover on the ACE Market decreased to 173.70 million shares valued at RM39.47 million from 223.08 million shares valued at RM43.33 million previously.

Warrants improved to 677.80 million units worth RM167.60 million from 600.05 million units worth RM150.56 million yesterday. 

Consumer products accounted for 66 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (172.67 million), construction (40.03 million), trade and services (382.54 million), technology (47.05 million), infrastructure (22.03 million), SPAC (19.14 million), finance (64.41 million), hotels (317,000), properties (90.40 million), plantations (19.38 million), mining (0), REITs (10.95 million), and closed/fund (3,500). — Bernama