KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed in the red on Tuesday as investor sentiment remained cautious due to the lack of buying catalysts.
At 5pm, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dropped 0.27 per cent or 4.28 points to 1,585.38 from Monday's close of 1,589.66.
The key index moved in a tight range between 1,582.78 and 1,594.09 throughout the trading session today,
The broader market was negative with losers leading gainers 838 to 315 while and 443 counters were unchanged.
Turnover was at 5.227 billion shares valued at RM3.7 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said FBM KLCI was stuck in consolidation mode again as investor sentiment remained cautious due to the lack of buying catalysts.
He added that the key regional indices finished mostly higher due to bargain-hunting activities.
According to Thong, the market in Hong Kong regained stability after three days of sharp losses as Chinese and European ministers commenced dialogue on import tariffs for Chinese electric vehicles.
He said investors were particularly attentive this week to the forthcoming Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index data, the Federal Reserve's primary inflation gauge, expected to influence US interest rate projections.
"On the domestic front, the FBM KLCI remained in its sideways pattern despite a few attempts to break out from the black candle.
"Nonetheless, we reckon the index will see slight upside from some buying due to prevailing low valuations and expect it to hover within the 1,580 to 1,600 range for the remainder of the week," Thong added.
Meanwhile, Malacca Securities said FBM KLCI ended lower as the index was dragged by selling pressure in the utilities heavyweights, namely YTL Corporation Bhd and YTL Power International Bhd.
The artificial intelligence (AI) sentiment has dampened after Nasdaq continued to decline overnight with profit taking seen on Nvidia.
"On the broader market, the healthcare sector, which has increased 0.16 per cent, was the best performing sector led by Hartalega Holdings Bhd and KPJ Healthcare Bhd, while the utilities sector declined the most, down 1.45 per cent," it said.