KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — Bursa Malaysia reversed yesterday’s gains to close lower today as market sentiment was hampered by external headwinds such as uncertainties surrounding Brexit deal and growing China-Hong Kong tension.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.30 points or 0.34 per cent to 1,568.79 from Tuesday’s close of 1,574.09

After opening 2.43 points lower at 1,571.66, the key index hovered between 1,564.08 and 1,573.23 throughout the day.

Phillip Capital Management senior vice-president (investment) Datuk Dr Nazri Khan Adam Khan said the FBM KLCI fell back modestly as global markets were buffeted by the political uncertainty in the United Kingdom (UK) after its Parliament rejected Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to fast-track his Brexit accord.

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“Market sentiment was also affected by the growing China- Hong Kong tension after Beijing was reportedly developing a plan to replace Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam on the back of months of political unrest,” he told Bernama.

Nazri Khan said, however, a torrent of United States (US) corporate earnings reports coupled with positive Sino-US trade headlines had provided some upside traction on the local stocks.

Overall, he reckoned the local bourse would be temporarily muted looking at the current scenario.

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“However, the local market should gather momentum after more certainty on the Brexit deadline, US-China trade progress, as well as more positive domestic catalysts are seen,” he said.

At the closing bell, market breadth remained negative with losers outpaced gainers 442 to 363, while 412 counters were unchanged, 800 untraded and 35 others suspended.

Volume declined to 2.60 billion shares worth RM1.69 billion compared with 3.28 billion shares worth RM2.09 billion on Tuesday.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank fell three sen to RM8.47, Tenaga was 12 sen lower at RM13.68, Public Bank retreated four sen to RM19.26, Petronas Chemicals eased one sen to RM7.41 and IHH was five sen weaker at RM5.64.

Of the actives, Bumi Armada garnered 4.5 sen to 44.5 sen, Velesto bagged 2.5 sen to 35.5 sen and its warrant went up two sen to 14.5 sen, Sapura Energy increased 1.5 sen to 27.5 sen while its warrant inched up one sen to 13 sen.

Top loser Hong Leong Financial shed 56 sen to RM16.46, followed by Aeon Credit which lost 34 sen to RM15.60, Carlsberg dropped 26 sen to RM26.50 while MAHB and KESM retreated 20 sen each to RM7.99 and RM8.15, respectively.

The FBM 70 fell 2.22 points to 14,091.21, the FBMT 100 Index slipped 28.66 points to 10,986.57 but the FBM Ace rose 46.31 points to 4,891.20.

The FBM Emas Index dropped 27.21 points to 11,175.18 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index gave up 19.41 points to 11,809.42.

Sector-wise, the Financial Services Index dipped 82.28 points to 15,167.10, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.20 of-a-point to 152.84, but the Plantation Index increased 4.91 points to 6,628.61.

Main Market volume narrowed to 1.78 billion shares worth RM1.49 billion from 2.13 billion shares worth RM1.81 billion on Tuesday.

Warrants turnover improved to 376.41 million units valued at RM67.98 million against 325.44 million units valued at RM56.96 million yesterday.

Volume on the ACE Market reduced to 450.46 million shares worth RM125.55 million versus 828.88 million shares worth RM220.27 million on Tuesday.

Consumer products and services accounted for 156.47 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (198.85 million), construction (78.80 million), technology (127.35 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (28.80 million), property (131.34 million), plantations (23.16 million), REITs (9.91 million), closed/fund (62,800), energy (885.36 million), healthcare (11.12 million), telecommunications and media (81.81 million), transportation and logistics (29.10 million), and utilities (19.06 million). — Bernama