Bursa Malaysia ends in the red as more than 900 stocks decline

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 900 decliners dragged Bursa Malaysia lower on Tuesday, mirroring broad weakness across Asian markets.

The 30-stock index settled 13.37 points, or 0.82%, lower at 1,614.06 after touching a high of 1,627.32 and a low of 1,613.76.

In the broader market, losers outpaced gainers, with 934 stocks ending lower while 313 closed higher, or roughly three losers for every one gainer, signalling that the bears firmly held the upper hand.

In the broader market, losers outpaced gainers, with 934 stocks ending lower while 313 closed higher, or roughly three losers for every one gainer, signalling that the bears firmly held the upper hand.

Trading volume was brisk at 4.33 billion shares valued at RM3.1bil.

Dealers said investors were in a risk-off mood as persistent external uncertainties continued to dampen sentiment.

They noted that buyers remained cautious throughout the session, allowing selling pressure to dominate the broader market.

Malaysian Pacific Industries, the top loser on Bursa Malaysia, tumbled 90 sen to RM30.60. PETRONAS Dagangan lost 60 sen to RM21.50, Dutch Lady eased 44 sen to RM29.30 and PETRONAS Gas declined 38 sen to RM18.14.

Among the gainers, Nestle rose 30 sen to RM112.70, United Plantations added 24 sen to RM27.04, Arka gained 14 sen to 85 sen while KLCC climbed 13 sen to RM8.85.

ACE Market debutant PMW International finished 1.47%, or 0.5 sen, higher at 34.5 sen with 102.93 million shares traded.

Meanwhile, stock market data showed that foreign funds were net buyers of local equities at RM18mil.

Local institutions and retail investors were net sellers at RM2mil and RM16mil, respectively, on Tuesday.

On the forex market, the ringgit extended its downtrend and was quoted at 4.1625 against the US dollar, down 0.31%.

The local unit also edged down 0.25% against the Singapore dollar to 3.1958.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.91%.

Asian benchmarks finished broadly lower, with the Nikkei 225 sliding 3.22% to 48,702.98, its sharpest daily decline since April 9.

South Korea’s Kospi lost 3.32% to 3,953.62, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.72% to 25,930.03.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 index slipped 0.65% to 4,568.19, and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.81% to 3,939.81.