KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — Bursa Malaysia closed marginally lower due to profit-taking, particularly in banking and plantation stocks, an analyst said.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased by 1.11 points to 1,432.63 from Monday’s close of 1,433.74.

The benchmark index opened 2.16 points weaker at 1,431.58 and moved between 1,428.52 and 1,432.75 throughout the day.

The market breadth was negative with decliners surpassing gainers 555 to 328, while 402 counters were unchanged, 957 untraded and 21 others suspended.

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Turnover rose to 3.45 billion units valued at RM2.12 billion from 3.05 billion units valued at RM1.58 billion on Monday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices closed mixed following cues from the Wall Street.

He said investors seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the United States inflation data later this week.

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At the same time, investors are favouring precious metals such as gold and silver as alternative assets that act as a long-term store of value and a hedge against inflation.

“On the domestic front, we view the profit takings today positively as it allows the market to digest the recent uptrend.

“Hence, we expect the benchmark index to rebound within the range of 1,425-1,440 for the remainder of the week. From the technical point of view, we spot the immediate resistance at 1,440 and support at 1,410,” Thong told Bernama.

Among the heavyweights, Maybank lost one sen to RM8.75 and CIMB fell five sen to RM5.11, while both Public Bank and IHH Healthcare were one sen higher at RM4.02 and RM5.90, respectively, and Petronas Chemicals added three sen to RM7.20.

As for the actives, Autocount gained 42 sen to 75 sen, Top Glove increased 14.5 sen to RM1.09 and Salutica went up one sen to 93.5 sen, while Bahvest slid 5.5 sen to 13.5 sen and Eduspec decreased one sen to 3.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index earned 12.71 points to 10,479.23, the FBMT 100 Index garnered 16.61 points to 10,177.38, the FBM Emas Shariah Index gained 43.50 points to 10,801.36 and the FBM 70 index surged 123.45 points to 13,563.46, while the FBM ACE Index slipped 67.61 points to 5,054.60.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.68 points to 169.65, the Energy Index eased 7.35 points to 832.97, the Financial Services Index declined 35.22 points to 15,715.57 and the Plantation Index contracted 18.36 points to 6,810.20.

The Main Market volume increased to 2.06 billion units valued at RM1.62 billion, from 1.91 billion units valued at RM1.32 billion on Monday.

Warrant turnover widened to 400.89 million units worth RM64.26 million, against 311.30 million units worth RM58.10 million previously.

The ACE Market volume rose to 987.90 million shares valued at RM436.72 million versus 830.09 million shares valued at RM204.74 million.

On the Main Market, consumer products and services counters accounted for 334.89 million shares traded, industrial products and services (521.34 million); construction (110.18 million); technology (188.51 million); SPAC (nil), financial services (48.22 million); property (219.62 million); plantation (12.91 million); REITs (7.85 million), closed/fund (24,800); energy (113.20 million); healthcare (352.79 million); telecommunications and media (71.28 million); transportation and logistics (29.66 million); and utilities (49.75 million). — Bernama