Malaysia's Stock Market Closes Lower

KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's stock market (Bursa Malaysia) finished lower Thursday on mild profit-taking in some heavyweights and lower-liners, in line with some Asian bourses, dealers said. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.16 points to 1,749.25 against Wednesday's close of 1,750.41, after fluctuating between 1,746.05 and 1,751.07 throughout the day. The index opened 0.28-of-a-point better at 1,750.69. Market breadth was, however, positive with 465 gainers and 420 losers, while 377 counters were unchanged, 470 untraded and 54 others suspended. Volume narrowed to 3.22 billion units, worth RM2.56 billion, from 3.39 billion units, worth RM2.63 billion, registered on Wednesday. A dealer said the market traded sideways in the absence of fresh domestic catalysts. He said the market was cautious over the start of UK's historical talks to leave the European Union. Telecommunications counters closed higher. Maxis rose three sen to RM6.47, Axiata and TM each added two sen to RM5.15 and RM6.43, respectively and Digi.com up one sen to RM5.17. Among heavyweights, Maybank eased five sen to RM8.92, TNB and Public Bank were flat at RM13.74 and RM19.94, respectively and Sime Darby fell 10 sen to RM9.30. Of the actives, SKH rose two sen to 9.5 sen, Trive fell three sen to 17.5 sen and JKG Land declined half-a-sen to 11 sen. On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index eased 1.38 points to 12,412.62 and the FBMT100 Index shed 4.39 points to 12,063.28. The FBM 70 gained 8.35 points to 14,594.11. The FBM Emas Shariah Index was 16.56 points higher at 12,862.83. The FBM Ace dipped 10.06 points to 5,722.67. Sector-wise, the Finance Index dipped 7.92 points to 15,725.27 and the Industrial Index was down 5.61 points to 3,263.87. The Plantation Index rose 18.40 points to 8,212.23. -- BERNAMA