KL shares easier at close in line with Asian shares

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares on Bursa Malaysia were easier at Thursday's closing in line with Asian shares, as hopes disappeared for real progress in the Sino-US trade talks.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) inched down 0.23 of-a-point to end at 1,851.80 from Wednesday's close of 1,852.03.
It opened 3.4 points weaker at 1,848.63 and moved between 1,847.10 and 1,856.92 throughout the day.
On the broader market, losers trounced gainers 407 to 382, while 409 counters were unchanged, 657 untraded and 15 others suspended.
Volume fell to 1.67 billion units valued at RM2.19, from 2.1 billion units valued at RM2.44 billion previously.
A dealer said after a two-day meeting of its Federal Open Market Committee, the US Federal Reserve decided to keep its interest rates unchanged, which was highly anticipated.
"But it did expressed confidence of a rise at the next meeting in June, and (in order) to reach its inflation target. The Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate in March to a range of between 1.5 and 1.75%," the dealer said.
The dealer, however, said despite the unchanged rate, the local bourse was still lower but some mild buying emerged during the trading hour, especially to support the finance and trade/services-related stocks.
Tenaga, for example, rose 16 sen to RM16, Petronas Dagangan added 12 sen to RM26.86 and Maybank was four sen better at RM10.70.
Of the heavyweights, Petronas Chemicals rose five sen to RM8.46, Axiata added one sen to RM5.19, Maxis improved two sen to RM5.64, and IHH was flat at RM6.
Among actives, Sapura fell two sen to 69 sen, Sumatec inched down one sen to four sen, Nexgram were half-a-sen better at seven sen and Borneo Oil was flat at 8.5 sen.
The FBM Emas Index declined 22.52 points to 12,907.22, the FBMT 100 Index lost 23.30 points to 12,719.75 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index fell 1.69 points to 13,076.23.
The FBM 70 decreased 102.56 points to 15,277.37 but FBM Ace rose 38.06 points to 5,297.53.
Sector-wise, the Finance Index slid 38 points to 18,144.31, the Industrial Index eased 15.07 points to 3,194.81 and the Plantation Index lost 12.78 points to 7,920.35.
Market volume fell to 944.42 million shares worth RM2.03 billion, from 1.36 billion shares worth RM2.31 billion.
Warrants volume increased to 499.77 million units valued at RM119.20 million from 476.85 million units worth RM83.52 million.
Volume on the ACE Market dropped to 225.15 million shares worth RM39.14 million versus 248.98 million shares worth RM41.26 million.
Consumer products accounted for 34.53 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products (192.44 million), construction (36.18 million), trade and services (502.57 million), technology (39.68 million), infrastructure (9.37 million), SPAC (1.69 million), finance (57.42 million), hotels (3.09 million), properties (38.60 million), plantations (19.79 million), mining (18,600), REITs (9.04 million), and closed/fund (0). — Bernama