KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended trading in the red today, taking a cue from profit taking activities.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 2.16 points, closing at 1,464.68 compared to Wednesday's closing of 1,466.84.
The index opened 2.06 points easier at 1,464.78 and hit its lowest of 1,460.46 and highest of 1,465.16.
The market breadth was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 487 to 419 while 470 counters were unchanged, 1,004 untraded and 24 others suspended.
Turnover narrowed to 3.48 billion units valued at RM2.07 billion from Wednesday's 3.94 billion units valued at RM2.21 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said key regional indices were also in negative territory as any improvement in sentiment following a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping appeared to diminish when Biden referred to Xi as a dictator.
On the domestic front, Thong said Rakuten have seen today's profit-taking activities as a positive signal, allowing the market to digest the recent uptrend and providing an advantageous opportunity to accumulate stocks at lower levels.
"Our expectation is for the market undertone to remain stable, supported by significant backing from foreign funds.
"Hence, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the range of 1,460-1,470 towards the weekend," he told the Business Times today.
Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd was flat at RM9.14 and Public Bank Bhd rose one sen to RM4.24.
CIMB Bank Bhd slipped two sen to RM5.78 and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd fell two sen to RM7.33.
Of the actives, Top Glove Corp Bhd gained four sen to 79 sen, while Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd and Widad were unchanged at 4.0 sen and 46 sen, respectively.
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