KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Bursa Malaysia closed slightly lower today, dragged down by weak investor risk appetite and sentiment over external developments, as well as, the drop in oil prices.

At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 2.01 points to 1,665.02 after fluctuating between 1,660.04 and 1,669.34 throughout the day.

Selling was mostly spotted in index-linked counters and oil and gas related stocks.

Petronas Gas fell 12 sen to RM21.84, Petronas Dagangan dipped 18 sen to RM23.28, and SapuraKencana eased two sen to RM1.65.

A dealer said investors had taken a more cautious stance after several US policymakers said an increase in interest rate was needed "relatively soon".

He also said renewed concerns over the health of the world's second-biggest economy, China, had put pressure on sentiment in global bourses.

Earlier today, China disappointed investors with its poor trade data which showed export shipment falling by 5.6 per cent in September on the back of subdued external demand.

Back home, losers trounced gainers 485 to 301, while 413 counters were unchanged, 458 untraded and 18 others suspended.

Volume widened to 1.76 billion units worth RM1.94 billion from 1.6 billion units valued at RM1.84 billion recorded on yesterday.

Among heavyweights, Public Bank eased two sen to RM19.74, Maybank shed three sen to RM7.63, and IHH Healthcare declined four sen to RM6.44.

Tenaga, however, rose 10 sen to RM14.48 while Petronas Chemicals was flat at RM6.81.

Of actives, Perisai Petroleum inched down half-a-sen to seven sen, both AT Systematization and Hibiscus Petroleum shed two sen each to seven sen and 24.5 sen, respectively, but Nexgram added half-a-sen to six sen.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index fell 14.11 points to 11,758.33, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 18.41 points to 12,415.67, and the FBMT100 Index declined 14.26 points to 11,457.23.

The FBM Ace gave up 50.52 points to 5,181.84 while the FBM 70 erased 18.81 points to 13,749.74.

On a sectoral basis, the Plantation Index slipped 37.45 points to 7,906.1, the Industrial Index slid 13.55 points to 3,126.53 and the Finance Index decreased 17.85 points to 14,263.41.

Main market turnover increased to 1.08 billion shares worth RM1.83 billion from 1.04 billion shares valued at RM1.75 billion registered on yesterday.

The ACE Market volume widened to 422.58 million units worth RM54.98 million, from 326.68 million units valued at RM44.92 million recorded yesterday.

Warrants expanded to 249.86 million shares worth RM49.9 million from yesterday's 242.29 225.06 million shares valued at RM44.6 million.

Consumer products accounted for 62.43 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (254.44 million), construction (42.61 million), trade and services (432.1 million), technology (28.68 million), infrastructure (13.76 million), SPAC (91.56 million), finance (57.82 million), hotels (72,000), properties (59.81 million), plantations (22.14 million), mining (6,000), REITs (17.44 million) and closed/fund (63,000). — Bernama