Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said that profit-taking was observed in certain Asian bourses.
“However, most regional markets continued their upward trajectory,” he said.
Thong said the performance was supported by a consistent influx of foreign buying amid the strengthening of Asian currencies against the US dollar.
“Malaysian equities ended mostly lower on profit-taking in utilities, energy, and tech stocks.
“As a result, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) also ended in negative territory,” he told Bernama.
Thong added that today’s profit-taking presents an opportunity to accumulate stocks at lower levels, particularly blue-chip stocks, and as a healthy correction that allows the market to digest the recent rally, thereby providing a stronger base for a more sustainable uptrend.
At the close, the FBM KLCI slid 5.93 points or 0.36% to 1,642.77 from yesterday’s close of 1,648.70.
The benchmark index opened 0.86 of-a-point higher at 1,649.56 and thereafter hit a notable intraday high of 1,660.29 at mid-morning, marking a level not seen since mid-December 2020.
The index continued to move downwards and slipped to a low of 1,637.45 in the afternoon session.
On the broader market, losers beat gainers 857 to 357, with 433 counters unchanged, 833 untraded, and 11 others suspended.
Turnover swelled to 4.19 billion units valued at RM4.55 billion from 3.89 billion units worth RM4.3 billion yesterday.
Among the heavyweights, Public Bank rose 13 sen to RM4.67, Tenaga Nasional gained 10 sen to RM14 and IHH Healthcare added 5 sen to RM6.32, while CIMB Group fell 12 sen to RM7.85 and Maybank remained unchanged at RM10.60.
Among the actives, Top Glove increased 1 sen to RM1, Cape EMS dropped 2 sen to 40 sen, MyEG Services fell 2.5 sen to 90.5 sen, YTL Power fell 34 sen to RM3.86, and Velocity Capital was flat at 6.5 sen.
On the index board, the FBM Emas Index decreased 50.06 points to 12,429.77, the FBM 70 Index dropped 44.57 points to 17,912.64, the FBM Emas Shariah Index slid 55.29 points to 12,359.18, and the FBM ACE Index declined 71.56 points to 5,329.59.
Sector-wise, the industrial products and services index dipped 2.31 points to 181.6, the energy index sank 14.9 points to 934.55, the plantation index shed 8.43 points to 7,146.15, while the financial services index increased 89.61 points to 19,197.15.
The Main Market volume expanded to 2.38 billion units worth RM4.24 billion from 2.32 billion units valued at RM4.01 billion yesterday.
Warrants turnover advanced to 1.37 billion units valued at RM163.68 million from 1.08 billion units worth RM124.32 million previously.
The ACE Market volume dwindled to 437.47 million shares worth RM139.41 million from 492.48 million shares valued at RM159.98 million yesterday.
Consumer products and services counters accounted for 277.71 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (537.61 million), construction (169.8 million), technology (251.12 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (286.93 million), property (269.06 million), plantation (16.92 million), REITs (13.39 million), closed/fund (16,800), energy (157.17 million), healthcare (118.87 million), telecommunications and media (76.99 million), transportation and logistics (78.43 million), utilities (124.18 million), and business trusts (2.79 million).