KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Shares on Bursa Malaysia extended the earlier downtrend to close lower today as investors’ risk appetite was weighed down by cautious market sentiment, dealers said.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 5.27 points to 1,642.69 from Friday’s close of 1,647.96.

The index, which opened flat this morning, moved between 1,637.25 and 1,648.71 throughout the day.

Overall market breadth was negative with losers outnumbering gainers 586 to 297, while 401 counters were unchanged, 652 untraded and 77 others suspended.

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Turnover rose to 2.64 billion units worth RM1.72 billion from Friday’s close of 2.56 billion units valued at RM2.05 billion.

A dealer said global sentiment was weighed down by the resumption of US-China trade talks, an expected interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve, as well as the monthly American payrolls report, pushing investors to stay on the sidelines for fresh development.

The Federal Open Market Committee two-day meeting is scheduled to begin on July 30, with the central bank widely expected to deliver its first interest rate cut in a decade.

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Similarly, regional peers also posted a downtrend in performance with Japan’s Nikkei 225 declining 0.19 per cent to 21,616.80 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave up 1.03 per cent to 28,106.41 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index eased 0.65 per cent to 3,341.74.

Back home, banking and finance stocks were mostly affected. Public Bank lost 22 sen to RM22.20, RHB Bank fell 21 sen to RM5.44, CIMB shed five sen to RM5.09, Hong Leong Financial trimmed 10 sen to RM18.40, while AMMB Holdings slipped three sen to RM4.21.

Among heavyweights, IHH Healthcare bagged five sen to RM5.75, Petronas Chemicals shed three sen to RM7.57, while Maybank and Tenaga were flat at RM8.73 and RM13.62 respectively.

As for the actives, Priceworth shed half-a-sen to seven sen, KNM slipped 1.5 sen to 41.5 sen while Sumatec was flat at 3.5 sen.

The FBM Emas Index contracted 39.33 points to 11,659.09, the FBMT 100 Index fell 38.51 points to 11,481.15, the FBM Emas Shariah Index eased 8.15 points to 12,051.98, the FBM 70 depreciated 55.85 points to 14,632.03, and the FBM Ace was down 29.87 points at 4,734.9.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index gave up 125.61 points to 16,192.34, the Industrial Products and Services Index slipped 0.28 point to 155.51, but the Plantation Index was 33.85 points better at 6,812.48.

Main Market volume improved to 1.80 billion shares worth RM1.56 billion versus 1.58 billion shares valued at RM1.85 billion recorded on Friday.

Warrants turnover decreased to 546.43 million units worth RM114.57 million from 600.58 million units valued at RM134.35 million.

Volume on the ACE Market eased to 298.56 million shares worth RM53.64 million against 372 million shares worth RM68.54 million.

Consumer products and services accounted for 301.67 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (364.09 million), construction (160.18 million), technology (109.81 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (39.91 million), property (123.07 million), plantations (31.09 million), REITs (6.08 million), closed/fund (20,000), energy (413.54 million), healthcare (17.18 million), telecommunications and media (196.47 million), transportation and logistics (25.77 million) and utilities (10.58 million).

The local bourse and its subsidiaries will be closed tomorrow in conjunction with the installation of Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Trading will resume on Wednesday. — Bernama