KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed weaker across the board today amid regional volatility, a dealer said.
At 5 pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) decreased 0.85 per cent or 12.95 points to 1,508.91 from 1,521.86 at Monday's close.
The key index opened 4.77 points weaker at 1,517.09 today and fluctuated between 1,503.34 and 1,517.09 throughout the trading session.
The overall market breadth was negative with decliners outnumbering advancers 803 to 215, while 348 counters were unchanged, 914 untraded and 30 others suspended.
Total turnover declined to 2.80 billion units valued at RM2.14 billion versus Monday's 2.83 billion units worth at RM1.88 billion.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the regional key indices closed mostly lower due to weak investor sentiment amid inflation and geopolitical concerns ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
"While the US Federal Reserve is likely to leave interest rates unchanged, there are hints that the first rate increase could happen as early as the next meeting in March.
"Meanwhile concerns over the quick-spreading Omicron cases also dented market sentiment," he told Bernama.
On the domestic front, he said investors are expected to remain cautious with the FBM KLCI hovering just above its 1,500 critical support level although bargain hunting may emerge soon.
"As such, we anticipate the FBM KLCI to move between 1,500-1,515 for the remainder of the week," he added.
Among Bursa Malaysia's heavyweights, Maybank fell two sen to RM8.23, Public Bank eased one sen to RM4.18, Petronas Chemicals and CIMB was flat at RM8.90 and RM5.25 each, while IHH Healthcare lost 14 sen to RM6.33.
Of the actives, DNex was seven sen lower at 86.0 sen, Coraza and SMTrack eased half-a-sen to 81 sen and 19 sen respectively. Meanwhile, Senheng which made its debut on the Main Market today contracted 21.5 sen to 85.5 sen.