KUALA LUMPUR (May 20): Bursa Malaysia bucked the regional trend to end the week marginally lower, with the key index falling 0.02%, dragged down by selling in selected heavyweights led by Petronas Gas Bhd and Public Bank Bhd.

Petronas Gas shed 56 sen to RM16.80 and Public Bank dipped five sen to RM4.52. Both stocks contributed a combined 3.596 points to the loss in the composite index.

At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.29 of-a-point to 1,549.12, to mark its intraday low, from Thursday’s close of 1,549.41.

The benchmark index, which opened 2.97 points higher at 1,552.38, remained in the positive territory for most of the day and hit an intraday high of 1,558.51 in the morning session before succumbing to selling pressure in late trading.

Market breadth was positive with advancers outpacing decliners 593 to 318, while 417 counters were unchanged, 953 untraded, and 22 others suspended.

Total turnover dwindled to 2.39 billion units worth RM1.99 billion from 2.69 billion units worth RM2.23 billion on Thursday.

Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI erased earlier gains to close flattish as investors took profits during the final minutes of trading.

"Key regional indices trended higher despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight as the People’s Bank of China preferred to stick to its prudent monetary policy by cutting a key interest rate.

"On the domestic front, we are cautiously optimistic although there’s improvement in the regional market sentiment," he told Bernama.

Regionally, Singapore’s Straits Times Index went up 1.65% to 3,243.47, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.27% to 26,739.03, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 2.96% to 20,717.24, South Korea’s Kospi increased 1.81% to 2,639.29, while China's SSE Composite Index improved 1.6% to 3,146.57.

Among the heavyweights, Malayan Banking Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd shed two sen each to RM8.96 and RM5.02 respectively, while Public Bank Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd fell five sen each to RM4.52 and RM6.53 respectively, and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd erased three sen to RM9.99.

Of the actives, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd decreased one sen to 13.5 sen, MNC Wireless Bhd inched down half-a-sen to two sen, while KNM Group Bhd gained 2.5 sen to 20 sen, Sapura Energy Bhd perked up half-a-sen to seven sen, and Techna-X Bhd was flat at 5.5 sen.

Among the top gainers, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd improved 40 sen to RM19.50, Kobay Technology Bhd put on 31 sen to RM3.51, Sam Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd bagged 25 sen to RM4.40, Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd climbed 22 sen to RM5.94 and Transocean Holdings Bhd rose 21 sen to RM2.60.

Of the top losers, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd shed 80 sen to RM133.60, Khind Holdings Bhd dropped 35 sen to RM2.95, Quality Concrete Holdings Bhd declined 18 sen to RM1.02, Far East Holdings Bhd dipped 15 sen to RM3.55 and Subur Tiasa Holdings Bhd slid 12 sen to RM1.71.

On the index board, the FBM ACE increased 54.92 points to 5,343.09, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 58.55 points to 11,529.27, the FBM Emas Index improved 25.1 points to 11,071.37, the FBMT 100 Index bagged 13.74 points to 10,735.07, and the FBM 70 added 81.15 points to 13,177.02.

Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index was 2.28 points higher at 199.37, the Plantation Index climbed 20.47 points to 8,257.8, but the Financial Services Index eased 32.01 points to 16,561.7.

Main Market volume declined to 1.67 billion shares worth RM1.8 billion from 1.89 billion shares worth RM2.05 billion on Thursday.

Warrants turnover decreased to 353.44 million units worth RM75.96 million versus 383.38 million units valued at RM75.23 million on Thursday.

ACE Market volume shrank to 369.93 million shares worth RM108.32 million from 418.24 million shares worth RM105.4 million previously.

Consumer products and services counters accounted for 191.64 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (312.97 million), construction (48.45 million), technology (144.87 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (62.44 million), property (124.42 million), plantation (76.36 million), REITs (13.54 million), closed/fund (4,200), energy (553.2 million), healthcare (50.74 million), telecommunications and media (30.58 million), transportation and logistics (30.35 million), and utilities (30.12 million).