KUALA LUMPUR, June 14 — Bursa Malaysia finished Friday’s trading on a negative note in sync with some key regional bourses on lack of buying support and losses in selected blue chips, dealers said.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) finished 5.11 points lower at 1,638.63 compared to Thursday’s close of 1,643.74.

The barometer index, which opened 5.68 points higher at 1,649.42 this morning, moved between 1,636.32 and 1,649.57 throughout the day.

 Market breadth was negative as losers outpaced gainers 498 to 288, while 356 counters were unchanged, 738 untraded and 34 others suspended.

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Turnover decreased to 1.75 billion units worth RM1.67 billion from 2.04 billion units valued at RM1.98 billion recorded on Thursday.

A dealer said Bursa Malaysia opened higher this morning but turned into negative territory at mid-morning and stayed in the red the rest of the trading session.

Local shares were dragged down by losses in index-linked stocks led by Public Bank and Tenaga, which contributed a combined 3.409 points to the fall in the composite index.

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Other Asian bourses were also mostly lower lacking a clear directional bias despite a positive overnight rebound on Wall Street, as investors were wary of rising geopolitical concerns in the Middle East and the unresolved trade dispute between the US and China.

“Soaring tension in the Middle East after two oil tankers were damaged in suspected attacks in the Gulf of Oman, near Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, saw the spike in oil prices on concerns over supply disruption,” he said.

He said investors awaited a host of economic data from China to be released later today such as industrial production, retail sales and investment numbers which could provide indications on the impact of the intractable US-Sino trade spat.

Investors are also keen to see the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance during their meeting on June 18-19 as to whether it meets market expectations for a near-term rate cut, he added.

Regionally, the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.26 per cent to 3,212.71, Japan’s Nikkei was 0.40 per cent better at 21,116.89, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.65 per cent to 27,118.35, the South Korean Kospi shed 0.37 per cent to 2,095.41 while Shanghai’s SSE eased 0.99 per cent to 2,881.97.

Among the heavyweights, Public Bank declined 30 sen to RM23.12, Tenaga fell 14 sen to RM12.18, and CIMB shed four sen to RM5.28.

Petronas Chemicals gained three sen to RM8.34 while Maybank was flat at RM8.96.

Of the actively-traded stocks, Greatech rose seven sen to 81 sen, Ekovest shed one sen to 83 sen, Iskandar Waterfront edged up half-a-sen to 99.5 sen and Inari Amertron slipped 11 sen to RM1.46.

The FBM Emas Index fell 43.93 points to 11,564.65, the FBMT 100 Index decreased 41.73 points to 11,412.51 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index declined 45.75 points to 11,788.24.

 The FBM Ace went down 37 points to 4,387.54 and the FBM 70 dropped 77.20 points to 14,381.03.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index was 74.88 points lower at 16,731.47 and the Plantation Index slipped 9.70 points to 6,871.08while the Industrial Products & Services Index eased 0.29 point to 160.35.

Main Market volume decreased to 1.03 billion shares valued at RM1.44 billion from 1.18 billion shares worth RM1.69 billion on Thursday.

Warrants turnover declined to 419.44 million units valued at RM93.86 million from 483.19 million units worth RM111.76 million.

Volume on the ACE Market reduced to 293.52 million shares valued at RM128.33 million from 370.23 million shares worth RM176.86 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services accounted for 150.08 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (163.78 million), construction (214.65 million), technology (115.01 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (36.74 million), property (99.48 million), plantation (11.57 million), REITs (11.13 million), closed/fund (30,200), energy (146.71 million), healthcare (21.70 million), telecommunications and media (18.55 million), transportation and logistics (27.77 billion), and utilities (16.50 million). — Bernama