KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Wednesday, echoing regional equity performances on profit-taking in index-linked stocks.
The market bellwether FBM KLCI was down 2.04 points to 1,529.33 after a bout of profit-taking following a steep increase yesterday. The index hit an intraday high of 1,530.95.
There were 387 stocks advancing against 503 stocks declining while 509 counters unchanged. Trading volume stood at to 2.8 billion units worth RM1.93bil.
At Bursa Malaysia, the top loser was Dutch Lady , which fell 30 sen to RM23.70. Ideal slid 20 sen to RM3.30, Carlsberg lost 12 sen to RM19.48 and Heineken declined 10 sen to RM24.60.
The gainers included PETRONAS Dagangan, F&N, Malaysian Pacific Industries and Itmax.
On the external front, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.93%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.69% to close at 37,703.32 while South Korea’s Kospi closed down 1.1% at 2,620.42.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.84% to 15,879.38 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index fell 0.06% to 3,140.04.
China’s financial markets remain closed for the week.