KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — Bursa Malaysia closed lower today as investors liquidated positions ahead of the holiday shortened trading next week due to the Hari Raya break, a dealer said. At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI), which opened 0.92 of a point easier at 1,653.16, ended at 1,646.22 from yesterday’s close of 1,654.08.

It moved between 1,644.64 and 1,654.28 throughout the day. Market breadth was negative as losers led gainers 413 to 295, with 332 counters unchanged, 667 untraded and 20 others suspended. Total volume increased to 1.13 billion units worth RM1.13 billion from yesterday’s 1.46 billion units worth RM2.04 billion.

Lebtech, which was the top contributor to the slide in the FBM KLCI fell 33 sen to RM1.21, followed by SLP Resources Bhd (-28 sen to RM2.72) and BAT (-20 sen to RM52.50). Other significant losers were Genting and Time Dotcom which lost 19 sen each to RM8.01 and RM7.41 respectively, while Panasonic slid 18 sen to RM29.60.

The dealer said today’s local market sentiment was in contrast to that of its regional peers with the benchmark Nikkei index rising 0.68 per cent to 15,628.48, South Korea’s Kospi soaring 0.86 per cent to 1,987.32 and Singapore’s Straits Times gaining 0.19 per cent to 2,846.37. This was alongside Wall Street’s better overnight performance and the improvement in global oil prices.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank advanced six sen to RM8.20, TNB and CIMB Group declined six sen each 14.04 and RM4.31 respectively, while Public Bank was flat at RM19.40. IHH and Sime Darby advanced one sen each to RM6.61 and RM7.60 respectively while Axiata fell 12 sen to RM5.51.

The FBM Emas Index fell 44.39 points to 11,485.82, the FBMT 100 Index lost 44.62 points to 11,193.43 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index dropped 47.96 points for 12,054.98. The FBM 70 slid 19.37 points to 12,946.60, while the FBM Ace recovered 8.28 points to 5,153.35.

Sector-wise, the Finance Index, improved 28.79 points to 14,234.00 and the Plantation Index firmed 10.73 points to 7,574.40. The Industrial Index eased 11.38 points to 3,096.26.

Main Market turnover declined to 876.00 million shares worth RM1.09 billion from yesterday’s 907.96 million shares worth RM1.89 billion.

The ACE Market volume fell to 153.01 million units valued at RM23.39 million from 176.05 million units valued at RM38.74 million.

Warrants contracted to 97.33 million shares worth RM12.25 million from 362.82 million shares worth RM69.47 million.

Consumer products accounted for 37.43 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (121.27 million), construction (15.38 million), trade and services (423.26 million), technology (97.58 million), infrastructure (6.80 million), SPAC (4.76 million), finance (121.74 million), hotels (673,100), properties (36.66 million), plantations (6.84 million), mining (5,000), REITs (3.63 million) and closed/fund (1,900). — Bernama