KUALA LUMPUR (May 4): The FBM KLCI fell 9.97 points or 0.5% to close at its intraday low today as investor risk appetite weakened ahead of Malaysia's 14th General Election (GE14) polling day on Wednesday (May 9, 2018).

At 5pm today, the KLCI finished at 1,841.83 points as KLCI-linked banking stocks CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd and Public Bank Bhd fell among Bursa Malaysia top decliners.

Across Bursa Malaysia, trading volume was 1.61 billion shares worth RM2.12 billion. Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd head of research Pong Teng Siew told theedgemarkets.com : “It was a very ‘down’ trading day, no one seems to be prepared to take fresh positions. There are no big moves in the index stocks, and active stocks too were mostly down than up."

Pong said investor sentiment was dampened ahead GE14. According to him, expectations are that a win for Barisan Nasional (BN) would mean a surge in the stock market.

Today, Malaysian shares fell with Asian bourses as investors looked ahead at the US employment data due later today. Investors closely watch the US employment data for clues on the pace of US interest rate hikes.
 
In China, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.28% while the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite fell 0.32%.

South Korea’s Kospi closed down 1.04% while Japan markets remained closed today for the Greenery Day holiday. Yesterday, Japan markets were closed for the Constitution Day holiday.