KUALA LUMPUR (June 7): The FBM KLCI fell slightly today as investor sentiment was affected by foreign institutional funds becoming more risk averse, amid the Middle East political rift and ahead of events like the UK general election, European Central Bank policy meeting and former FBI director James Comey's Senate testimony.
 
The benchmark index settled at the day’s low of 1,785.92, down 5.09 points or 0.28% from yesterday. Its intra-day high was 1,792.65.
 
Mercury Securities Sdn Bhd head of research Edmund Tham said there was some profit taking in the market, as some investors do not see substantial upside to their investment.
 
“Investors are waiting for more clarity from these events, especially the foreign funds, they are more sensitive to global news development,” he told theedgemarkets.com.
 
“So when there is uncertainty, the KLCI would be capped and some local investors will be affected by this kind of sentiment and start taking profit,” he said.
 
Reuters reported other Southeast Asian stock markets were up today, as investors priced in chances of a victory for the ruling party in the UK election and a rate increase by the U.S. Federal Reserve next week.
 
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei inched up 0.02%, while Hong Kong Hang Seng index declined 0.09%, and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.36%.
 
Over at Bursa Malaysia, total volume stood at 2.36 billion shares, worth some RM2.36 billion. There were 395 gainers versus 459 losers, while 390 counters remained unchanged.
 
Top gainers included Nestle (M) Bhd, while the biggest loser was Bursa Malaysia Bhd. Frontken Corp Bhd was the most actively-traded counter, with 151.75 million shares exchanging hands.
 
The ringgit strengthened against the U.S. dollar, trading at 4.2645 at the time of writing.