KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — Bursa Malaysia reversed early gains to end marginally lower today, weighed down by persistent profit-taking, in tandem with the weakness in most regional peers as investors remain cautious ahead of the United States inflation data due out tomorrow, said a dealer.

At 5pm, the benchmark FBM KLCI eased 0.77 of-a-point, or 0.05 per cent, to end at 1,441.35 compared to yesterday’s close of 1,442.12.

The market bellwether, which opened 5.0 points firmer at 1,447.12, moved between 1,433.29 and 1,447.85 throughout the day.

On the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 470 to 361, while 381 counters were unchanged, 1,103 untraded, and nine others suspended.

Turnover increased to 3.04 billion units valued at RM1.57 billion versus 2.79 billion units worth RM1.64 billion yesterday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said investors were likely to stay cautious due to increasing market volatility on the domestic front.

"As such, we anticipate the benchmark index to trend sideways, slightly bias towards positive, within the 1,430-1,460 range for the remainder of the week, with immediate support at 1,420 and resistance at 1,460,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia heavyweights Maybank added two sen to RM8.50, Public Bank rose three sen to RM4.38, CIMB gained seven sen to RM5.42, while Petronas Chemicals and IHH Healthcare were both flat at RM8.55 and RM6.00.

Among the actives, Advance Synergy ticked up 3.5 sen to 12.5 sen, Top Glove improved 5.5 sen to 84.5 sen, Malayan United Industries went up 1.5 sen to 10.5 sen, Tanco shed 5.5 sen to 38.5 sen, and Borneo Oil was unchanged at two sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index declined 18.25 points to 10,226.64, the FBM 70 was 70.85 points weaker at 12,122.48 and the FBMT 100 Index fell 17.57 points to 9,961.46.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index slipped 53.50 points to 10,308.36 and the FBM ACE slid 8.40 points to 4,941.43.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index rose 59.22 points to 16,161.36, the Plantation Index climbed 10.07 points to 6,835.06, the Industrial Products and Services Index eased 0.69 of-a-point to 173.62 and the Energy Index shed 3.66 points to 724.46.

The Main Market volume widened to 2.27 billion shares worth RM1.35 billion from 2.06 billion shares worth RM1.42 billion yesterday.

Warrants turnover shrank to 217.63 million units valued at RM49.35 million from 323.34 million units valued at RM81.72 million yesterday.

The ACE Market volume swelled to 556.79 million shares worth RM166.19 million from 408.32 million shares worth RM140.39 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 783.67 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (485.83 million), construction (80.03 million), technology (109.62 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (52.16 million), property (308.95 million), plantation (18.56 million), REITs (4.69 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (137.67 million), healthcare (191.10 million), telecommunications and media (22.62 million), transportation and logistics (65.44 million), and utilities (13.20 million). — Bernama