KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended lower for the third consecutive day, reflecting the overall negative performance of regional bourses.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 6.10 points to 1,451.56 from Tuesday's close of 1,457.66.
The main index opened 5.03 points weaker at 1,452.63 and fluctuated between 1,450.37 and 1,456.77 throughout the day.
On the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 537 to 423, while 440 counters were unchanged.
Turnover decreased to 3.56 billion units worth RM2.51 billion from 3.95 billion units worth RM2.14 billion on Tuesday.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said on the domestic front, today's selldown is a good opportunity to bargain hunt stocks at lower level.
The firm is cautiously optimistic on the market outlook given the return of foreign funds and strong support from local institutions.
Hence, he believes that the benchmark index will stage a rebound in the near term.
"We anticipate the FBM KLCI to tend within 1,450 to 1.460 for the rest of the week.
"Technical point of view, we see the immediate resistance at 1,465 while support at 1,445," he told Business Times today.
Nevertheless, Thong said if there are no surprises from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, sentiment may turn positive moving forward.
Key regional indices also finished mostly lower as investors are cautiously awaiting the highly anticipated US Fed interest rate meeting.
He noted that in China, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) maintained benchmark lending rates steady today, as expected by the market.