KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): The FBM KLCI gained 2.44 points or 0.1% in the final trading minutes on bargain hunting, after falling on news about Turkey's failed coup.

The Turkey incident dragged Bursa Malaysia-listed companies, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and IHH Healthcare Bhd, into the spotlight, as both entities have operations there.

At 5 p.m., the KLCI closed at 1,670.84 points, after reaching its intra-day low at 1,662.94 points. Across Bursa Malaysia, Malaysia Airports was the top decliner, after falling 33 sen to end at RM6.11, while IHH declined one sen to RM6.64.

Inter-Pacific Research Sdn Bhd research head Pong Teng Siew said the KLCI had earlier fallen, mainly because of the incident in Turkey.

“We see some impact on Malaysia Airports and IHH," Pong told theedgemarkets.com.

Bursa Malaysia saw 1.7 billion shares, worth RM1.65 billion, exchanged. Gainers outnumbered decliners at 401 against 392.

Leading gainer was United Plantations Bhd, while the most active stock was EA Holdings Bhd.

Across Asian share markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.66%, while South Korea's Kospi added 0.19%. Japan markets were closed for a public holiday today.

Reuters reported the U.S. dollar gained on the yen on Monday, as investors unwound safe-haven trades in the wake of the failed coup in Turkey.

It was reported the initial reaction of investors to the coup had been to bid up safe havens such as the Japanese yen, but that was quickly unwinding. The dollar was at 105.50 yen, having briefly been as low as 104.63 late Friday, with trade further thinned by a holiday in Japan.