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KUALA LUMPUR: Stock prices in Bursa Malaysia fell on Thursday amid a shortage of new leads, and most regional markets closed early before the Christmas holidays.
The FBM KLCI closed 6.33 points lower, or 0.38% at 1,641.17, after rising 15.58 points to 1,647.50 yesterday.
The down counters outnumbered the ascenders 587 to 514 in Bursa Malaysia, while 480 counters were unchanged.
Turnover in Bursa Malaysia was 6.67 billion shares valued at RM2.83bil compared to 6.3 billion shares on Wednesday worth RM3.41bil.
Traders said the market moved within a narrow range on the downside amid a lack of strong factors to stimulate trade. A trader said local stocks could lack momentum as some fund managers are already closing their books for the year.
The market will be closed tomorrow for Christmas.
Among the Bursa Malaysia winners, F&N added 94 sen to RM32.48, Nestle rose 80 sen to RM139.20 and KPower advanced 68 sen to RM7.23.
Panasonic Manufacturing
lost 34 sen to RM30.58, Hengyuan fell 19 sen to RM5.50, Mi declined 15 sen to RM4.04 and Hartalega lost 14 sen at RM12.58.
Among banks, Maybank fell five sen to RM8.44, Public Bank lost four sen to RM20.56, Hong Leong Bank fell four sen to RM18.48 while RHB added four sen to RM5.50.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was trading at 4.0605, an increase of 0.07% against the US dollar.
Brent crude last traded at $ 51.01 per barrel, while US crude traded at $ 47.96 per barrel.
On the external front, China’s top-line index CSI300 fell 0.1% to 5,000.02, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6% to 3,363.11.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.16%, or 43.46 points, to 26,386.56.
Shares in South Korea closed on a record high on Thursday, posting their longest weekly rally in three and a half years, Reuters reported.
The benchmark kospi index rose 47.04 points, or 1.70%, to 2,806.86.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.54% to 26,668.35, approaching Monday’s high of 26,905, its highest level since early 1991.
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