KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): The FBM KLCI fell 3.31 points or 0.2% as investors took profit from the index's earlier gains today.

At 5pm, the KLCI settled at 1,764.07 on losses in stocks like Petronas Gas Bhd and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd. The index had earlier reached an intraday high of 1,776.07.

Fund managers said investors were pessimistic about Malaysian shares. "Investors are quite pessimistic on the overall market," a fund manager told theedgemarkets.com.

The FBM Small Cap Index rose 61.94 points or 0.38% to close at 16,224.64. The FBM Small Cap comprises companies within the top 98% portion of Bursa Malaysia's Main Board.

The FBM Small Cap, however, excludes stocks under the FBM 100 list.

The KLCI had extended losses today after falling 20.12 points or 1.1% yesterday.

Today, Bursa Malaysia saw 485 gainers versus 318 decliners. A total of 1.58 billion shares worth RM1.94 billion changed hands.

The top gainer was Petronas Dagangan Bhd while the leading decliner was Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd. The most active counter was AirAsia X Bhd.

AirAsia X settled lower at 27.5 sen with some 78 million shares traded. Shares of the budget airline fell ahead of its first quarter results announcement tomorrow (May 27).

Today, an investment manager told theedgemarkets.com via telephone: “The first quarter financial results may not be good, according to the statistics it announced earlier.”

In currency markets, the ringgit weakened to 3.6295 against the US dollar but strengthened to 2.6916 versus the Singapore dollar.

Reuters reported that most emerging Asian currencies extended losses on Tuesday with the Singapore dollar slipping to one-month lows despite robust growth data, as the dollar was broadly stronger on US rate hike views and Greece's debt problems.

Across Asian share markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.12% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.92%. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.12%.

Reuters reported that Asian shares turned higher on Tuesday, reversing earlier losses on the back of gains in Hong Kong and China, while the dollar extended highs scaled in holiday-thinned trading in the previous session and pushed to an eight-year high against the yen.