KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 8): The FBM KLCI ended 0.14% higher today after a volatile day of trading.

At 5pm, the benchmark index rose 2.63 points to settle at 1,871.09 points.

Benny Lee, chief market strategist at Jupiter Securities, said the market was trapped in a tight trading range today, with more interest seen in penny stocks.

“Retail investors are net sellers, with local institutions supporting the market. This usually happens when a correction in the market is expected,” he told theedgemalaysia.com.

The exchange saw a total of 2.68 billion shares worth RM1.93 billion traded. Market breadth was positive, with 474 gainers against 353 decliners, while 300 counters were unchanged.

Leading the top gainers was British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd, whose share price rose 0.98% or 70 sen to close at RM72 after an unexpected hike in cigarette selling prices today.

Meanwhile, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd topped the decliners. The most active stock was PDZ Holdings Bhd, with some 263.3 million shares exchanged.

Across Asia, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.39%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.20%, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.23%.

Reuters reported that sterling declined on Monday and British shares looked set to underperform their peers in Europe after a poll found rising support for Scottish independence.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1%, not helped by Chinese trade data, which showed unexpected fall in imports, raising concerns about tepid domestic demand in the world's second largest economy.