KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed slightly lower today as some major stocks saw modest profit-taking, while the regional market remained bullish.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell by 0.71 points, closing at 1,462.72 compared to its Friday closing of 1,463.43.
The main index opened the day 0.64 points higher at 1,464.07 and fluctuated between 1,460.84 and 1,465.93 throughout the day.
On the broader market, decliners outpaced gainers 526 to 489, while 404 counters were unchanged.
Turnover declined to 4.01 billion units valued at RM2.37 billion, compared to Friday's 4.65 billion units worth RM3.08 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI ended in negative territory due to profit taking activities during the final minutes of trading.
He added that despite the profit taking, the market undertone is expected to remain strong given the support from the local institutions, foreign buying and increasing retail participation.
"Hence, we reckon the index to show a more positive performance and expect it to hover between the 1,455 to 1,475 range for the week.
"Technical point of view we see the immediate resistance at 1,490 while support at 1,440," he told the New Straits Times.
Meanwhile, Thong said major regional indices moved in an upward direction, riding the wave of optimism surrounding China.
He noted that all eyes are on Beijing for further steps to boost economic growth, especially any measures targeted at shoring up the property market.
"At the same time, investors were also anticipating China's trade data for the week, following last week's release of purchasing managers' index data, which indicated some improvement in the world's second-largest economy," he said.