Bursa Malaysia closes lower in cautious trading

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower in cautious trading today despite the steadier Asian stocks market, which tracked the gains on overnight Wall Street, a dealer said.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) closed 1.28 points easier to 1,772.94 after moving between 1,770.95 and 1,777.18 throughout the day.
The index opened 1.13 points better at 1,775.35 from Tuesday's close of 1,774.22.
Market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 415 to 454, with 365 counters unchanged, 605 untraded and 19 others were suspended.
Volume stood at two billion units worth RM1.97 billion.
The dealer said trading on Bursa Malaysia slowed down since early morning with some selling pressures in trade/services- and finance-related stocks.
"Among the news that affected today's market included a collapse in the merger talks between RHB Bank Bhd and AMMB Holdings Bhd.
"However, we hope from tomorrow onwards the market will pick up, especially with the two-day Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming, United States, to kick off," the dealer said.
The meeting, which will gather the global central bankers, was expected to provide clues on major policy changes that could have ripple effects on the global economy, he said.
Shares of RHB jumped 19 sen to RM5.07 while AMMB declined 11 sen to RM4.59.
As for other heavyweights, Maybank fell three sen to RM9.58, Public Bank eased two sen to RM20.56, while both Sime Darby and CIMB inched down one sen to RM9.30 and RM6.74, respectively.
Of actives, Apft fell one sen to three sen, Dagang Nexchange dropped two sen to 50.5 sen, Dutaland rose 12 sen to 62.5 sen and AirAsia X was half-a-sen better at 39 sen.
The FBM Emas Index edged up 0.99 points to 12,620.55 and the FBM Emas Syariah Index increased 17.56 points to 12,794.43. The FBMT 100 Index fell 0.09 of-a-point to 12,276.86.
The FBM 70 rose 33.01 points to 15,041.58 and the FBM Ace was 33.98 points higher at 6,581.35.
Sector-wise, the Industrial Index added 10.53 points to 3,239.18 and the Plantation Index improved 25.86 points to 7,831.30.
The Finance Index erased 19.19 points to 16,731.49.
Main Market volume rose to 1.41 billion shares worth RM1.83 billion from 1.02 billion shares worth RM1.73 billion on Tuesday.
Volume on the ACE Market fell to 357.95 million units valued at RM110.25 million versus 420.76 million units valued at RM116.29 million.
Warrants decreased to 222.62 million shares worth RM25.63 million from 319.19 million shares worth RM42 million.
Consumer products accounted for 54.92 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (294.21 million), construction (76.41 million), trade and services (656.16 million), technology (59.58 million), infrastructure (6.6 million), SPAC (1.33 million), finance (82.59 million), hotels (2.9 million), properties (92.84 million), plantations (79.32 million), mining (336,900), REITs (7.7 million), and closed/fund (38,000).
The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM171.22 per gramme, up 19 sen from RM171.03 at 5pm yesterday. — Bernama