KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — Bursa Malaysia closed lower today dampened by cautious sentiment ahead of the renewed trade talks between the US and China, dealers said.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) stood at 1,687.41, down 1.15 points, from yesterday’s close of 1,688.56.
The index opened 3.66 points firmer at 1,692.22 and moved between 1,683.73 and 1,692.22 throughout the day.
A dealer said investors’ sentiment remained subdued, awaiting the development of the new round of trade negotiations between the US and China scheduled for Thursday and Friday this week.
The talks will be led by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He.
“A cautious mood hung over markets as initial US-China trade talks got under way this week,” he said.
Among heavyweights, Maybank eased three sen to RM9.56, Public Bank fell 12 sen to RM24.96, TNB declined six sen to RM13.10 and Petronas Chemicals shed 13 sen to RM8.41.
CIMB rose six sen to RM5.82.
Of actives, Barakah added three sen to 13.5 sen, and Seacera and VS Industry perked 3.5 sen each to 29.5 sen and 90.5 sen respectively.
Bumi Armada lost one sen to 22.5 sen while Sapura Energy was flat at 28 sen.
Market breadth was positive with 425 gainers and 406 losers while 369 counters remained unchanged, 653 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Total volume rose to 2.69 billion units valued at RM1.95 billion from 2.57 billion units valued at RM1.66 billion. — Bernama
