KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 — Bursa Malaysia ended lower, weighed down by profit-taking in selected heavyweight stocks and waning optimism over the latest round of the US-China trade negotiations, said a dealer. 

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) slipped 1.36 points to 1,566.23 from yesterday's close of 1,567.59.

The index, which opened 0.56 point easier at 1,567.03, moved between 1,563.13 and 1,568.24 throughout the day.

However, market breadth was positive as gainers led losers 410 to 392, with 411 counters unchanged, 763 untraded and 22 others suspended.

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Turnover decreased to 2.62 billion shares worth RM1.73 billion from 2.99 billion shares worth RM1.84 billion yesterday.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei improved 1.87 per cent to 22,207.21, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index eased 0.07 per cent to 26,503.93, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.04 per cent to 2,068.17, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 0.27 per cent to 3,116.07.

A dealer said the post-US-China trade truce “bounce” yesterday is losing steam as investors are now weighing their next move following China’s call for further talks.

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Asian shares were mixed, taking the cue from the weaker overnight performance of Wall Street and the fall in US treasuries as investors focused on the next steps in the US-China trade deal, cues from the Brexit Summit and a slew of US bank earnings results this week.

Locally, Bursa Malaysia stayed in the red for most of the trading session as investors took profit following significant gains yesterday, with selling seen in selected heavyweight stocks.

“However, the falls were limited on the back of upside potential over the near term as bargain-hunting began appearing after the recent sell-down,” he added.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank shed one sen to RM8.51, Tenaga slipped 10 sen to RM13.70 and IHH Healthcare lost 14 sen to RM5.63.

Public Bank bagged 10 sen to RM19.26 while Petronas Chemicals added one sen to RM7.29.

Of the most actives, KNM Group gained five sen to 44.5 sen, SapuraEnergy and Bumi Armada edged up half-a-sen each to 27 sen and 42 sen respectively, and KNM warrant gained six sen to 18.5 sen.

NetX Holdings and PUC eased half-a-sen each at two sen and 5.5 sen, respectively.

The FBM Emas Index gained 5.23 points to 11,156.24, the FBMT 100 Index inched up 0.83 of a point to 10,968.82 and the FBM 70 rose 43.60 points to 14,069.34.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 13.60 points to 11,769.33 while the FBM Ace trimmed 8.63 points at 4,640.57.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index increased 12.01 points to 15,145.93, the Plantation Index improved 34.91 points to 6,635.14, while the Industrial Products & Services Index was 0.55 of-a-point better at 151.43.

Main Market volume decreased to 1.73 billion units worth RM1.56 billion from Monday’s 1.82 billion units worth RM1.61 billion.

Warrants turnover narrowed to 276.02 million units worth RM48.19 million from 359.01 million units worth RM61.99 million yesterday.

Volume on the ACE Market declined to 610.07 million shares worth RM128.67 million from 816.07 million shares worth RM174.32 million yesterday.

Consumer products and services accounted for 222.49 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (220.26 million), construction (125.58 million), technology (159.70 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (29.83 million), property (100.46 million), plantations (13.02 million), REITs (15.30 million), closed/fund (nil), energy (694.89 million), healthcare (17.32 million), telecommunications and media (84.89 million), transportation and logistics (36.63million), and utilities (11.61 million). — Bernama