KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Monday following a long weekend on lack of buying momentum amid mixed performance on regional bourses, dealers said.
At the close, the key FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 1.90 points to end at 1,769.14 against last Thursday’s close of 1,771.04.
Earlier, the benchmark index opened 0.35 of-a-point better at 1,771.39.
Market breadth was negative as losers overwhelmed gainers 626 to 259 with 349 counters unchanged, 611 untraded and 23 others suspended.
Volume fell to 2.46 billion units worth RM2.36 from 3.25 billion units worth RM2.41 billion last Thursday.
The market was closed on Friday for Awal Muharram holiday.
A dealer said market sentiment was quiet earlier as market participants digested the outcome of the national elections in Germany and New Zealand over the weekend.
“Later in the day we saw selling activities in the market but overall the losses in the exchange were capped by higher oil prices, with Petronas-linked companies seen supporting the index,” the dealer said.
Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.50 per cent to 20,397.58 boosted by gains in most automakers and finance counters, while the South Korea’s Kospi reversed earlier gains to end 0.35 per cent lower at 2,380.40.
On the home front, Petronas Gas soared 42 sen to RM18.44, Petronas Chemicals added five sen to RM7.35, while Petronas Dagangan was four sen better at RM24.26.
On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index was 23.20 points lower at 12,602.52, the FBMT 100 Index went down 18.927.74 points to 12,276.94, the FBM Emas Shariah Index retreated 10.18 points to 12,821.64, the FBM 70 fell 44.88 points to 15,046.87 and the FBM Ace decreased 71.00 points to 6,581.34.
Sector-wise, the Plantation Index declined 30.90 points to 7,886.37, the Finance Index lost 117.64 points to 16,641.10 but the Industrial Index went up 6.94 points to 3,227.49.