KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 24): The FBM KLCI bucked the regional trend and finished in the negative territory today as investors opted to cash out after yesterday's gains.

The benchmark index closed 0.38% or 6.33 points lower at 1,641.17.

Investors offloaded their holdings ahead of the long Christmas weekend, remisier Jeffry Azizi Jaafar told theedgemarkets.com.

He said sentiment was cautious as the country's Covid-19 cases remained high, especially among foreign workers.

Jeffry expects the KLCI to stay muted next week in the absence of window-dressing activities.

On the broader market, 587 counters ended lower versus 514 gainers, while 480 others were unchanged.

A total of 6.67 billion securities worth RM2.83 billion were traded. This is the lowest trading value since Oct 1 when it stood at RM2.61 billion.

Yesterday, 6.31 billion securities changed hnads at a total value of RM3.41 billion.

Blue chips that dragged down the KLCI included glove heavyweights Top Glove Corp Bhd (-3.57% or 24 sen to RM6.49), Hartalega Holdings Bhd (-1.1% or 14 sen to RM12.58) and Supermax Corp Bhd (-1.59% or 11 sen to RM6.81).

The selldown of blue chips also spilled over to Genting Bhd (-1.55% or seven sen to RM4.46) and Genting Malaysia Bhd (-1.12% or three sen to RM2.66).

The top decliner was Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Bhd, which fell 34 sen or 1.1% to RM30.58. Other decliners included Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, Mi Technovation Bhd, AEON Credit Service (M) Bhd, Gets Global Bhd and Batu Kawan Bhd.

Meanwhile, the day's top gainers were Fraser and Neave Holdings Bhd, Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, KPower Bhd, JF Technology Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd.

The actives list was led by AT Systematization with 710.49 million shares traded. It closed up two sen at 18.5 sen.

Other active stocks included Iris Corp Bhd, Marine & General Bhd, Techna-X Bhd, Fintec Global Bhd, MNC Wireless Bhd, SYF Resources Bhd and Lion Industries Corp Bhd.

Among other Asian stock indices, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.54%, Seoul's Kospi added 1.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.16%, while Shanghai's Composite Index closed down 0.57% .

Reuters reported that Asian shares rose ahead of the Christmas break, as Britain and the European Union closed in on a free trade deal and investors placed bets on global economic recovery prospects.