KUALA LUMPUR (April 24): The FBM KLCI closed down 11.79 points or 0.85% at 1,369.85 today with Asian stock indices, spurred by doubts about the progress in the development of drugs to treat Covid-19 patients. Such sentiment, however, led to gains in rubber glove manufacturers' share prices, in anticipation lingering Covid-19 concerns will result in higher demand for gloves.

Across Bursa Malaysia at 5pm today, 4.69 billon shares were traded for RM2.49 billion. There were 445 gainers and 400 decliners across the exchange, as news Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral drug Remdesivir which had failed to help severely ill Covid-19 patients in its first clinical trial, hit global stock market sentiment.

"Any piece of bad news is likely to rattle the market," New York-based wealth management firm Inverness Counsel chief investment strategist Tim Ghriskey was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Across Bursa, top decliners included Heineken Malaysia Bhd, besides KLCI stocks MISC Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

Top gainers included glove makers Top Glove Corp Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd and Supermax Corp Bhd.  

Most active stocks included glove producer Careplus Group Bhd, which registered a trading volume of some 137 million shares. Its share price closed up 5.5 sen or 14.67% at 43 sen.

Bursa’s healthcare index, which includes glove manufacturers, ended up 28.73 points or 2.02% at 1,449.77, to be the leading gainer among Bursa indices.

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