KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower today due to profit-taking, a day after the local stocks surpassed RM2 trillion in market capitalisation for the first time ever.
The profit-taking was influenced by the negative performance of regional markets.
At 5:00pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 0.93 points or 0.06 per cent to 1,604.75 from yesterday's closing of 1,605.68.
Among the broader market, decliners outnumbered gainers with 571 to 568, while 478 counters remained unchanged, 712 were untraded, and 14 were suspended.
The index opened slightly higher at 1,606.96 and reached a low of 1,602.29 during the afternoon session after peaking at 1,610.25 in the morning trade.
Malacca Securities Sdn Bhd noted that while Sime Darby Plantation Bhd saw gains, selling pressure was observed in certain banking heavyweights, offsetting the overall market performance.
"Sime Darby Plantation garnered buying interest after the announcement on the proposed solar project in Perak, while the index was slightly negative due to the lack of catalyst after the dull overnight performance on Wall Street," it said
It said the plantation sector was the leading sector on the back of buying support in Sime Darby Plantation (+14.0 sen) and KLK Bhd (+8.0 sen), while the real estate investment trust (Reit) sector (-0.55 per cent) declined with Pavilion REIT falling 2.0 sen.
Among the active counters, BCM Alliance Bhd rose to half a sen to 15 sen, while MYEG Services Bhd gained 6.5 sen to 98.5 sen.