KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 30): The FBM KLCI was almost unchanged at the end of the trading day at 1,504.82 points, barely 0.92 points higher as the benchmark index bounced back from an intra-day low of 1,497.78 points.

Buying interest in Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Public Bank Bhd lent support to the FBM KLCI. However, most stocks finished the day in the negative zone, with 638 losers against 296 gainers. Trading volume was at 5.64 billion shares worth RM2.64 billion.

The earlier strong buying interest appeared to have lost steam, particularly among retail investors, amid lack of fresh catalyst.

Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd head of research Victor Wan commented: “It [market today] is basically very flat.”

Leading the gainers today were Nestle (M) Bhd, Greatech Technology Bhd, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, and Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd.

Among the most traded counters were XOX Bhd, which was down 13.3% or two sen at 13 sen, Kanger International Bhd, which shed 14.3% or three sen at 18 sen, and Trive Property Group Bhd, which was unchanged at 1.5 sen.

Top losers in terms of value included Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N), Hartalega Holdings Bhd, and Vitrox Corp Bhd.

On the regional front, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 183.52 points or 0.79% at 23,459.05 points, mainly driven by property stocks, including China Evergrande Group, which has managed to secure investments to ease its liquidity crunch problem.

Elsewhere, Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropped 4.99 points to 2,466.62 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 shed 353.98 points or 1.5% to 23,185.12 points, and Bangkok’s SET Index lost 20.30 points or 1.61% to 1,237.04 points.