KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia closed lower today in lacklustre trading, weighed by losses in finance counters.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) shed 8.42 points to end at 1,784.06 after hovering between 1,783.15 and 1,791.18 throughout the day.

Of finance-related counters, Maybank fell 12 sen to RM9.85 while CIMB slipped 11 sen to RM7.79. Both stocks constituted 3.396 points of the key index.

Hong Leong Bank dropped 24 sen to RM14.12, RHB Capital eased 14 sen to RM7.84 and Public Bank trimmed 10 sen to RM17.78.  

Affin Investment Bank Vice-President/Head of Retail Research Dr Nazri Khan said investors were mindful of the current concerns over the US Federal Reserve’s deferment of its bond-buying programme and the deadline for the US debt ceiling.

“I don’t think this is the start of a serious selldown. I believe this is a temporary correction. The market will see an uptrend after the US government solves its debt ceiling issue by mid-October,” he told Bernama.

The US government will reach its debt limit by mid-October. The country’s borrowing limit is currently capped at USUSUS$16.7 trillion.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.76 per cent at 14,620.53, Singapore’s Straits Times shed 0.08 per cent to 3,211.75 but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng perked 0.13 per cent to 23,209.63.

Back home, the Industrial Index was down 6.62 points to 3,047.28, the Plantation Index was 12.93 points lower at 8,354.24, the Finance Index slipped 158.29 points to 16,631.18 and the FBM Emas Index dipped 45.59 points to 12,397.34.

The FBMT100 decreased 48.73 points to 12,134.88, the FBM 70 Index fell 21.59 points to 14,099.48 but the FBM ACE Index added 3.47 points to 5,492.05.

Losers led gainers 420 to 359, with 276 counters unchanged, 528 untraded and 13 others were suspended.

Turnover rose to 2.21 billion shares, worth RM2.05 billion, from 1.92 billion shares, worth RM1.85 billion, recorded yesterday.  

Volume on the Main Market rose to 1.72 billion shares, valued at RM1.91 billion, from 1.39 billion shares, valued at RM1.73 billion, registered yesterday. 

Turnover on the ACE market fell to 453.29 million units, worth RM128.68 million, from Yesterday’s 485.059 million shares worth RM115.61 million. 

Total warrants increased to 33.55 million units, worth RM4.25 million, from 47.75 million units, worth RM3.76 million, transacted yesterday. 

Among actives, Frontken added two sen to 9.5 sen, China Stationery inched up half-a-sen to 21.5 sen, TH Heavy Engineering rose four sen to 90.5 sen, The Media Shoppe was flat at 17.5 sen and SerSol eased three sen to RM1.02. 

Consumer products accounted for 203.31 million shares on the Main Market, industrial products 311.36 million, construction 86.54 million, trade and services 626.57 million, technology 213.54 million, infrastructure 29.66 million, SPAC 41.67 million, finance 77.10 million, hotels 7.39 million, properties 105.16 million, plantations 15.99 million, mining 98,300, REITs 4.12 million, and closed/fund 38,000. — Bernama