KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — The bellwether FBM KLCI fluctuated between gains and losses before finishing 1.07 points or 0.06 per cent lower today, as regional markets are still jittery over the Chinese economy.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) settled at 1,717.01, on losses in stocks like Carlsberg Brewery, Panasonic Manufacturing, Genting Bhd and Hong Leong Financial Group.

The market barometer, which opened 4.25 points weaker at 1,713.83, moved between 1,713.83 and 1,722.75 throughout the day.

It closed at 1,718.08 today.

Decliners outpaced gainers 434 to 359, with 397 counters unchanged, 519 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Volume declined to 1.60 billion shares valued at RM1.95 billion from 1.71 billion shares valued at RM1.94 billion on Tuesday.

Dealers said cautious sentiment had led to profit-taking in the local market as worries over the Chinese economy and outcome of the Federal Open market Committee (FOMC) Meeting dogged investors.

“Investors are taking profits and looking forward to the release of minutes of the FOMC’s latest meeting later today for more clues on the health of the US and global economies and future rise in interest rate,” said the dealer.

The FBM KLCI fell slightly in the morning but pared some of its gains to move back into positive territory at mid-day, however, it lost ground at mid-afternoon.

The minutes will reveal more details on the Federal Reserve’s latest economic and interest rate projections and whether policymakers would shift their perspective on risks to growth, said the dealer.

On the local front, among heavyweights, SapuraKencana decreased 13 sen to RM1.77, Petronas Gas increased 74 sen to RM22.62, MISC shed seven sen to RM8.81, Petronas Chemicals and Maxis gave up two sen each to RM6.70 and RM6.35, respectively, while Sime Darby slid seven sen to RM7.85.

As for active stocks, AirAsia slipped seven sen to RM1.90, AirAsia X was unchanged at 30.5 sen but KNM Group increased 1.5 sen to 49.5 sen.

Among the top losers, Panasonic Manufacturing fell 34 sen to RM27.90, Carlsberg Brewery dropped 28 sen to RM13.60, Pintaras slipped 25 sen to RM3.40 and Lay Hong lost 22 sen to RM9.26.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 erased 0.11 per cent to 15,715.36, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng increased 0.15 per cent to 20,206.67 and Singapore’s Straits Times rose 0.34 per cent to 2,811.47.

The FBM Emas Index slid 6.94 points to 11,930.63, the FBMT100 Index shed 9.62 points to 11,625.45 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index increased 6.84 points to 12,531.71.

The FBM 70 decreased 19.47 points to 13,272.44, and the FBM Ace lost 23.99 points to 5,644.29.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index slipped 32.24 points to 14,743.87, the Industrial Index rose 13.93 points to 3,279.29 and the Plantation Index went up 35.09 points to 7.880.78.

Main Market turnover fell to 1.08 billion units worth RM1.87 billion from yesterday’s 1.22 billion units worth RM1.85 billion.

Turnover on the ACE Market declined to 256.24 million shares valued at RM44.91 million from 272.55 million shares valued at RM60.45 million previously.

Warrants were higher at 268.77 million units worth RM29.70 million against 219.16 million units worth RM31.53 million.

Consumer products accounted for 41.01 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (224.87 million), construction (81.97 million), trade and services (538.78 million), technology (18.13 million), infrastructure (9.43 million), SPAC (45.41 million), finance (48.68 million), hotels (1.14 million), properties (48.64 million), plantations (16.57 million), mining

(112,100), REITs (3.69 million) and closed/fund (42,500). — Bernama