KUALA LUMPUR (June 11): The FBM KLCI fell 2.52 points or 0.1% to close at 1,775.8 points after profit taking in the final trading minutes dragged the index lower.
At 5pm, the KLCI closed lower after touching its intraday peak at 1,788.16 points. Analysts said investors continued to evaluate Malaysia' outlook after Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad-led Pakatan Harapan's win in the country's 14th General Election.
“Investors are still treading cautiously at this moment because they are looking beyond what is going to happen subsequently in Malaysia, because of all these construction projects being reviewed.
"Most of the sectors are quite dampened in the outlook for the time being,” Loui Low, head of retail research at Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd, told theedgemarkets.com.
Across Bursa Malaysia, volume traded was 2.62 billion shares for RM2.41 billion. Top decliners included Heineken Malaysia Bhd and Public Bank Bhd while leading gainers included KESM Industries Bhd and Top Glove Corp Bhd.
The most-active stock was My E.G. Services Bhd, which had some 184 million shares changing hands. The stock rose 8.5 sen to close at 94 sen.
Across Asian stock markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished 0.48% higher, South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.76% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.34%.
Reuters reported that Asia stocks shook off initial modest losses and edged up on Monday ahead of an historic US-North Korea summit that investors hope might pave the way to end a nuclear stand-off on the Korean peninsula.
It was reported that investors also got prepared for a raft of other key events.
The US Federal Reserved holds a two-day meeting starting on June 12, and it is widely expected to raise interest rates for the second time this year. The focus is on whether the central bank will hint at raising rates a total of four times in 2018.
The European Central Bank meets on June 14, when it could signal intentions to start unwinding its massive bond purchasing programme. Also, the Bank of Japan on Friday concludes a two-day meeting at which it is widely expected to keep its loose monetary policy intact.