KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia stayed within negative territory today, reflecting investor hesitation to make substantial moves owing to the absence of buying enthusiasm and a subdued market sentiment.
At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 0.13 of-a-point to 1,448.02 from Monday's closing of 1,448.15.
The barometer index opened 2.04 points better at 1,450.19 and moved between 1,446.60 and 1,452.60 throughout the trading session.
Market breadth was negative, with losers surpassing gainers at 526 to 390, while 450 counters were unchanged, 1,044 untraded and 72 others suspended.
Rakuten Trade equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI pared losses.
It, however, remained in negative territory as investors were reluctant to make significant moves due to lack of buying interest and weak market sentiment.
On the domestic front, Thong said despite the prevailing cautious sentiment, the firm believes the sell-down offers an opportunity for investors to hunt for bargains in stocks at lower levels.
"Hence, we expect bargain hunting will emerge and anticipate the benchmark index to trend within the range of 1,445-1,465 for the rest of the week," he told Business Times today.
Among the heavyweights, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd was down 7.0 sen to RM5.68, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd eased 1.0 sen to RM7.08, RHB Bank Bhd declined 6.0 sen to RM5.51, PPB Group Bhd eased 12 sen to RM14.06, while Public Bank Bhd and Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd shed 2.0 sen each to RM4.22 and RM4.85, respectively.
Of the most active, Hong Seong Consolidated Bhd was flat at 2.5 sen, Top Glove Corp Bhd added 2.0 sen to 90 sen, CSH Alliance Bhd grew half-a-sen to 6.0 sen and Leform Bhd gained 1.5 sen to 31.5 sen.