KUALA LUMPUR: Despite opening higher at the start of the opening bell, the FBM KLCI succumbed to mild profit-taking activities after the recent gains.
The 30-stock index fell 2.23 points, or 0.14% to 1,569.25 off its intraday low of 1,569.03.
Losers outpaced gainers 581 to 443, while 535 counters were unchanged. Volume stood at 3.96 billion units valued at RM2.83bil.
According to data on Bursa Malaysia, foreign investors acquired RM310mil worth of equities on Wednesday.
Local institutions and retailers sold equities worth RM201mil and RM109mil respectively.
Among the losers on Bursa Malaysia, Malaysian Pacific Industries (MPI) slid 28 sen to RM29.94, Allianz fell 22 sen to RM20.90, Amlex lost 18 sen to 25 sen and Ge-Shen gave up 18 sen to RM3.77.
Nestle was the top gainer, rising 70 sen to RM127. Heineken added 36 sen to RM23.36, United Plantations gained 28 sen to RM26.38 and Crescendo rose 27 sen to RM3.88.
Among the banks, Maybank and Public Bank fell two sen each to RM9.78 and RM4.23 respectively. RHB Bank declined one sen to RM5.51, Hong Leong Bank gave up four sen to RM19.46 while AmBank closed unchanged at RM4.23.
Meanwhile, regional markets closed mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.16% to 37,628.48 and South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.76% lower at 2,628.62.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.48% to settle at 17,284.54, while China’s CSI 300 Index was up 0.25% to 3,530.28.