KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 13): The FBM KLCI closed 0.65% lower as bearish regional sentiment saps investors’ risk appetite.

At 5pm, the KLCI fell 11.68 points to settle at 1,797.20 points.

Benny Lee, chief market strategist at Jupiter Securities Sdn Bhd said regional sentiment is bearish currently, which is reflected in the drop in the benchmark index today.

“The regional sentiment is bearish, and therefore investors are not willing to take risks,” he said over telephone, adding that the Budget 2015 announcement last Friday also did not have much impact on the local market.

Bursa Malaysia saw a total 1.74 billion shares, valued at RM1.80 billion, traded. Decliners beat gainers at 757 against 155, while 237 counters were unchanged.

Heading the decliners was British American Tobacco Bhd (down by 0.98%), while Hong Leong Industries Bhd (up by 0.3%) was the top gainer. The most active stock was Sumatec Bhd, with some 55.9 million shares traded.

Across the region, Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi both fell 1.15% and 0.71% respectively, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.24%.

Asian stocks stumbled to seven-month lows on Monday, while crude oil prices were pinned near a four-year trough as promising trade numbers out of China failed to cheer a market still worried about faltering global growth.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8%, extending last week's 1.1% drop.