KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — Bursa Malaysia bucked the regional market trend to end in the red today, weighed by selling pressure in selected heavyweights, dealers said.

At 5pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 10.42 points to 1,629.41 from Wednesday’s close of 1,639.83.

The key index opened 3.10 points easier at 1,636.73, and moved between 1,626.23 and 1,636.73   throughout the session.

However, market breadth was positive with gainers thumping losers 759 to 435, while 446 counters were unchanged, 563 untraded and 17 others suspended.

Total volume decreased to 9.53 billion units worth RM5.44 billion from Wednesday’s 11.01 billion units worth RM7.20 billion.

Regionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.65 per cent to 29,385.61, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.60 per cent better at 29,211.64, Singapore’s Straits Times Index increased 0.79 per cent to 3,104.04, and South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1.88 per cent to 3,013.70.

A dealer said Asian bourses, which took cue from Wall Street’s overnight rally with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a record high on Wednesday, were firmer today.

The upbeat performance was lifted by sentiment brought on by the easing of US bond yields coupled with a new stimulus package, while a weaker-than-expected United States (US) consumer price index in February that increased by 0.4 per cent helped wane inflation concerns, he said.

On the local front, Bursa Malaysia was traded lower throughout the session on profit-taking after four straight days of gains.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim told Bernama that the FBM KLCI lost 0.64 per cent today as investors viewed that the current level is ripe for profit-taking.

“This was in contrast with other regional peers which recorded gains such as Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.

“Sector-wise, banking stocks faced selling pressure such as Hong Leong and CIMB, causing the Bursa Malaysia Financial Index to be the biggest laggard with a 0.72 per cent loss,” he added.

Among heavyweights, Maybank added one sen to RM8.55, Public Bank and IHH Healthcare gained two sen each to RM4.34 and RM5.31 respectively, Petronas Chemicals improved three sen at RM8.20 and Tenaga rose eight sen to RM10.80.

Of the actives, AirAsia X improved one sen to 10.5 sen, Widad edged up half-a-sen to 49 sen, Saudee fell eight sen to 70 sen, and Dagang NeXchange slid two sen to 87 sen, while Vizione was flat at 31.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index slipped 17.68 points to 11,934.76 and the FBMT 100 Index declined 33.71 points to 11,616.89.

The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 8.44 points better at 13,189.47, the FBM ACE jumped 90.70  points to 10,443.12 and the FBM 70 surged 112.17 points to 15,680.32.

Sector-wise, the Plantation Index gained 7.59 points to 7,189.72, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged up 0.72 of-a-point to 190.82, but the Financial Services Index dropped 113.72 points to 15,721.82.

Main Market volume fell to 7.23 billion shares worth RM4.78 billion from Wednesday’s 8.27 billion shares worth RM6.46 billion.    

Warrants turnover reduced to 410.41 million units worth RM61.69 million from 485.41 million units worth RM80.70 million yesterday.  

Volume on the ACE Market declined to 1.88 billion shares worth RM594.89 million from 2.25 billion shares worth RM650.79 million previously.  

Consumer products and services accounted for 2.01 billion shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (1.44 billion), construction (1.02 billion), technology (741.55 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (121.01 million), property (872.15 million), plantations (55.34 million), REITs (11.09 million), closed/fund (12,100), energy (529.46 million), healthcare (69.41 million), telecommunications and media (84.76 million), transportation and logistics (233.69 million), and utilities (58.31 million). — Bernama