KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Bursa Malaysia shrugged off two days of gains to close marginally lower today, due to the fall in crude oil prices, as local investors await the announcement of Budget 2017 tomorrow, a dealer said.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down 1.09 points to 1,667.18 against UNday’s close of 1,668.27.

The index opened at 1,667.09 in the morning and moved between 1,666.95 and 1,671.49 throughout the day.

Losers outpaced gainers 417 to 342, while 386 counters were unchanged, 513 untraded and 20 others suspended.

Volume rose to 1.50 billion units worth RM1.49 billion from 1.39 billion units worth RM1.58 billion yesterday.

The US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 22 cents lower at US$51.38 per barrel while global benchmark Brent crude eased 11 cents to US$52.56 per barrel on profit-taking.

The local market hit an intraday high of 1,671.49 in late afternoon after which it succumbed to bouts of selling to close in the negative territory.

Also, conflicting statements on the timing of the interest rate hike coming from the Federal Reserve added to the market uncertainty.

Among heavyweights, Tenaga shed two sen to RM14.36, Maybank eased 10 sen to RM7.60, Petronas Chemicals added nine sen to RM6.95, Sime Darby perked one sen to RM7.96, IHH Healthcare slid two sen to RM6.42 and Public Bank was flat at RM19.80.

Of the gainers, BAT firmed 64 sen to RM48.50, Harrisons put on 27 sen to RM3.61, Panasonic Manufacturing rose 20 sen to RM37.60, SHH Resources increased 16 sen to RM1.96 and Pharmaniaga added 14 sen to RM5.66.

On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index fell 18.22 points to 11,790.19, FBM Emas Shariah Index decreased 9.39 points to 12,444.93, FBMT100 Index lost 18.39 points to 11,489.94 and the FBM 70 declined 61.63 points to 13,853.41. However, the FBM Ace rose 34.78 points to 5,143.37.

On a sectoral basis, the Plantation Index slipped 11.94 points to 7,917.86, Industrial Index eased 3.87 points to 3,134.49 and the Finance Index was 29.92 points lower at 14,344.69.

The Main Market turnover swelled to 926.70 million units worth RM1.41 billion from 889.97 units worth RM1.51 billion yesterday.

The ACE Market volume shrank to 261.83 million shares valued at RM27.10 million from 281.56 million shares valued at RM29.20 previously.

Warrants rose to 306.63 million units worth RM53.24 million from 213.93 million units worth RM47.19 million yesterday.

Consumer products accounted for 52.69 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (271.08 million), construction (49.32 million), trade and services (331.75 million), technology (36.18 million), infrastructure (21.76 million), SPAC (52.03 million), finance (31.98 million), hotels (283,100), properties (45.34 million), plantations (17.05 million), mining (2,000), REITs (17.21 million) and closed/fund (11,500). — Bernama