KUALA LUMPUR (June 5): The FBM KLCI rose 0.22% today, largely on the support of select blue chips such as British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd and IOI Corp Bhd, while regional markets were mostly down.

The benchmark index was up 3.85 points to close at 1,745.33. However, week-on-week, the index is down 2.19 points or 0.13% from its closing of 1,747.52 on May 29.

Jupiter Securities Sdn Bhd analyst Nazarry Rosli told theedgemarkets.com that the KLCI is expected to stage a rebound soon, as the index is seen to be bottoming out.

“Based on the technicals, the index is seen to be stabilising and we see support for the index at 1,745, despite the pessimistic sentiment [weighing] on the market. The KLCI is in an oversold position and we don’t see further downside to the index,” he said.

The bourse saw a total of 1.18 billion shares worth RM1.32 billion traded today. Decliners beat gainers at 412 versus 345, while 345 counters remained unchanged.

The top gainer across the board was British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd, while decliners were led by Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd. The counter with the highest volume of trades was Metronic Global Bhd.

Regionally, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.13%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.06%.

In the currency markets, the ringgit weakened to an intraday low of RM2.7620 against the Singapore dollar. This is the weakest based on records since 1981, according to Bloomberg data.

Reuters reported that analysts said persistent concerns over loss-making state investment fund 1MDB were weighing on the ringgit.

It also said that Asian shares fell on Friday and bonds tried to stabilise after a vicious losing streak, while the euro consolidated the week's hefty gains as investors braced for US jobs data and another day of drama over Greece.

The main exception was China, where stocks advanced after a week of roller-coaster action. Shanghai .SSEC added 0.7% and cleared the 5,000-point barrier for the first time since early 2008, while the CSI300 gained 0.3%.

Elsewhere, the mood was very subdued with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, .MIAPJ0000PUS, slipping 0.3%.