KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — Bursa Malaysia ended in the negative territory today, with key index declining 0.45 per cent, weighed down by selling pressure in selected heavyweights led by Supermax and Sime Darby.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 7.19 points or 0.45 per cent, to 1,581.26 from Wednesday’s close of 1,588.45. 

The key index opened 0.44 of-a-point higher at 1,588.89 and moved between 1,577.39 and 1,590.46 throughout the day.

Market breadth was negative with losers outpacing gainers 699 to 445, while 433 counters were unchanged, 576 untraded and nine others suspended.

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Total volume decreased to 9.63 billion units worth RM5.37 billion from Wednesday’s 10.78 billion units worth RM6.18 billion. 

The performance of local bourse was also in line with most regional peers as market sentiment was dented by rising US bond yield, said a dealer.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped 2.13 per cent to 28,930.11, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.15 per cent to 29,236.79, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid 2.05 per cent to 3,503.49.

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Meanwhile, Bank Negara Malaysia has maintained the Overnight Policy Rate at 1.75 per cent at its second Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting today.

The central bank’s MPC considers the stance of monetary policy to be appropriate and accommodative.

Among the heavyweights, Supermax declined 30 sen to RM4.36, Sime Darby and Genting Bhd eased one sen each to RM2.29 and RM4.94, respectively, Genting Malaysia declined five sen to RM2.97, and Dialog went down three sen to RM3.25.

Of the actives, Dagang NeXchange and GFM Services rose 2.5 sen each to 64 sen and 34 sen, respectively, Asian Pac increased two sen to 16.5 sen, Minetech edged up half-a-sen to 16.5 sen, Green Ocean was flat at six sen, and XOX slipped one sen to seven sen. 

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 50.77 points to 11,620.67, the FBMT 100 Index narrowed 49.59 points to 11,316.26, the FBM Emas Shariah Index lost 123.19 points to 12,917.06, the FBM ACE trimmed 221.53 points to 10,394.26, and the FBM 70 fell 60.36 points to 15,438.99. 

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 1.75 points easier at 185.18, the Plantation Index eased 12.63 points to 7,149.46, but the Financial Services Index strengthened 154.81 points to 15,187.65.

The Main Market volume slipped to 5.81 billion shares worth RM4.58 billion from Wednesday’s 6.62 billion shares worth RM5.14 billion.   

Warrants turnover was lower at 487.12 million units worth RM83.64 million from 523.02 million units worth RM72.37 million yesterday.  

Volume on the ACE Market declined to 3.33 billion shares worth RM709.20 million from 3.63 billion shares worth RM964.11 million previously. 

Consumer products and services accounted for 992.79 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.54 billion), construction (186.63 million), technology (1.04 billion), SPAC (nil), financial services (171.33 million), property (816.40 million), plantations (23.83 million), REITs (9.61 million), closed/fund (10,000), energy (450.20 million), healthcare (122.39 million), telecommunications and media (98.08 million), transportation and logistics (316.63 million), and utilities (46.06 million). — Bernama